Check for your IRS refund on your smartphone

• Reprints

The Internal Revenue Service is offering IRS2Go, a free smartphone app that lets taxpayers check on the status of their tax refund and access tax tips.

Apple users can download the app from the Apple store, while Android users will find it at the Android Marketplace.

Smartphone users enter their Social Security number, which is encrypted, pick the filing status used on their tax return and enter the amount of the refund they expect from their 2010 tax return.

For people who file their returns electronically, the app sends an update within 72 hours of the taxpayers’ e-mailed acknowledgment saying the IRS received their tax return. Paper filers must wait three to four weeks to check their refund status.

Sandra Guy