The quickest way to get your refund is to e-file your tax return and have your refund directly deposited to your checking and/or savings account.
The IRS has certain dates on which they send direct deposits and when they mail paper checks. There is a seven day delay between the two dates which means that your direct deposit will be sent to your account(s) seven days before a paper check is even put in the mail.
The sending of your direct deposit refund could take as few as six days or as many as 15 days from the date that you filed your tax return. The reason for this is that returns are batched in groups by the IRS. Each group has a specific date span. For instance all returns e-filed between February 18th and February 25th will have their direct deposit refunds sent on March 5th or a paper check mailed on March 12th. The IRS has printed a convenient chart showing all 2010 dates through 10/21/2010. Follow this link to see the chart.
If you would like to see the status of your refund, the IRS has that information 72 hours after you e-file your return. Go to www.irs.gov and click on Where’s My Refund? You can also call the IRS at 1-800-829-1954.