While patience is a virtue, it’s probably safe to say that very few of us are so saintly when it comes to our tax refund checks. But did you know that you can do more than just sit on your duff and harangue the mailman day in, day out? It’s a huge governmental agency, but you can always get directly in touch with the IRS in order to inquire after the status of your federal income tax refund!

The phone is a fine go-to solution (call toll-free at 1-800-829-1040), but the IRS– which already provides support to not only file your taxes online, but even to file tax returns online for free!– has taken things one step further to save everyone’s time by setting up a web-service on their official website where inquiring taxpayers can check up on the status of federal tax refund checks quickly and painlessly. It’s called Where’s My Refund? and it’s super handy. With it, you’re able to:

1. Check whether your tax return has been processed yet or not.
2. Find out exactly when your refund was either sent to you in the mail or direct-deposited in your bank account.
3. Reissue your tax refund payment in the event that something screws up during the payment process and you don’t get your money. (This process is called a Refund Trace and is intricate and well-monitored, just in case you’re thinking of trying to double-dip in the tax refund pool, you sneaky scoundrel!)
4. Update your mailing address if your rightful payment check is for some reason undeliverable to the address that you’ve indicated. Typo protection!

And if the phrase “IRS Service” conjures up horrible alphabet-soup imagery of W-9, 1099, Publication 80 and nightmarish fever-dreams of botched paperwork and federal imprisonment, rest your weary brain for a spell! The no-nonsense, everyman-friendly title of the Where’s My Refund? service accurately reflects how simple it is to use. All you’ve got to do is gather a few simple pieces of personal identification information:

1. Your Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
2. The Filing Status you claimed on your federal tax return.
3. The precise amount of tax refund money that was displayed on your official tax return for this past fiscal year.

Once you’ve got those three things, mosey on over to the Where’s My Refund? online form and submit the information. While you’re at it, make sure to savor the experience. This is probably one of very few instances where you can drop a demanding question (”WHERE’S MY REFUND!”) at the federal government and actually get a coherent answer.