If you miss the tax deadline, the IRS may file your return for you, which could cost more than you bargained for.

An IRS tax transcript is a downloadable record that shows return information, wage reporting, payment history, refund activity, and internal IRS codes tied to collections or audits.

There are a lot of factors that determine how long your tax return takes to get processed — and when you can expect your refund to hit. According to the IRS, most returns take three weeks or less.

An IRS tax transcript is a downloadable record that shows return information, wage reporting, payment history, refund activity, and internal IRS codes tied to collections or audits.