When will the 730/2026 refund arrive? Here’s who receives it in August and who has to wait for the following months.
The most awaited window of the tax campaign opens with the month of August: for pensioners it is the first payslip in which the INPS can apply the adjustments of the 730/2026 form, while for employees it is the second useful window, after that of July. There is no one date that is the same for everyone: the month of credit depends on when the declaration was sent, on the times with which the Revenue Agency forwards the data to the withholding agent and on the processing of the individual position. Here’s who gets your refund now, who has to wait and what to check if it doesn’t arrive.
Who receives the refund in August 2026
The refund is paid on behalf of the Treasury by the withholding agent indicated in the declaration (employer or pension institution), starting from the moment in which it receives the payment statement, the so-called form 730-4, from the Revenue Agency. However, there are two minimum deadlines that no declaration, no matter how timely, can anticipate:
- for employees, the first useful salary cannot precede the July 2026 paycheck;
- for pensioners, INPS carries out the adjustment operations starting from the second month following receipt of the 730-4, and therefore the August 2026 payslip is the first possible month. The delay of a month with respect to employees depends on the technical times for processing payslips.
For pensioners, the Institute has indicated a precise criterion: the declarations whose accounting results have been sent to INPS by 30 June are applied to the August accrual. It therefore includes not only the declarations sent by May 31st, but also, generally speaking, those sent between June 1st and 20th, the flow of which is forwarded by the Agency by the end of the month. The machining of the single position remains unchanged.
The adjustment also concerns those who receive taxable IRPEF benefits other than pensions, such as the NASpI, having indicated the INPS as the withholding tax.
The 2026 calendar based on the date of posting
A necessary premise: these are indicative times, not a guaranteed calendar. The adjustment is made in the first salary or in the first pay slip after the substitute has received the statement, and the closing times of the pay slips also have an impact.
For employees, the reimbursement is expected approximately:
- 730 sent by May 31st: starting from July;
- from 1st to 20th June: from August;
- from 21 June to 15 July: from September;
- from 16 July to 31 August: from October;
- from 1st to 30th September (deadline): from November.
For pensioners, as mentioned, the first two brackets both flow into the August payslip. For subsequent mailings, the balance shifts to the pay slips of September, October or November, according to the flow with which the Agency transmits the statement to the Institute.
The windows in fact depend on the flows established by law: the Revenue Agency sends the payment statement to the withholding agents by 15 June, 29 June, 23 July, 15 September and 30 September, based on the submission bracket. On the payslip the amount appears with the item dedicated to the balance 730, which can be divided into several lines: in addition to the IRPEF, the regional and municipal additional items can appear as independent items, and the actual reimbursement is the sum of all of them.
If 730 closes in debt: withholdings and installments
The same calendar applies, on the contrary, for those who are in debt: the withholding is applied to the pay slip or payslip starting from the same windows, therefore from August for pensioners.
The taxpayer can ask for the debt to be paid in installments directly in the return, but with a constraint that should be known in advance: all installments must be closed by November 2026. The actual number of installments depends on the moment in which the substitute receives the accounting result: if the statement arrives after June, INPS may have to reduce the number of installments required to meet that deadline.
If the monthly installment is not sufficient to cover the amount, the withholding continues on the subsequent months, always within the final deadline set for the adjustment.
When the refund does not go through the payslip: checks above 4,000 euros
There is a case in which the reimbursement skips the employer or INPS altogether. When the pre-compiled declaration is modified with variations that affect the determination of income or tax and presents elements of inconsistency with the data held by the Tax Authorities, or determines a refund exceeding 4,000 euros, the Revenue Agency may order preventive checks (art. 5, paragraph 3-bis, of Legislative Decree no. 175/2014). It’s not an automatism: it’s a faculty.
In these cases, the reimbursement is paid directly by the Agency, once checks have been completed, no later than the sixth month following the submission deadline, therefore by 31 March 2027. It is the most frequent explanation for a significant credit that does not appear on the pay slip or payslip in the expected month. Those who accept the pre-filled form without modifications benefit from the exclusion from documentary checks on unmodified data, which does not equate to immunity from any possible tax audit.
Pensioners: the August withholding may have nothing to do with the 730
Two completely different operations overlap on the payslip for August 2026, and it is easy to mistake one for the other.
The first is the 730 adjustment, which can be credit or debit. The second is the withholding tax linked to the RED 2023 campaign: a suspension that affects pensioners in receipt of income-related benefits who have not communicated their income for 2022 to INPS, equal to 5% of the gross taxable pension amount for the month of July 2026 and applied to the installments for August and September.
The two items appear with distinct wording, and the difference is substantial: the debt adjustment is a tax due and ends there, while the RED withholding tax is reversible but has a peremptory deadline. Anyone who does not regularize their position with a request for income reconstitution by 15 September 2026 risks the revocation of the benefit and the recovery of sums not due: an outcome which, unlike the tax adjustment, does not resolve itself.
Without withholding tax: an option open to all, but with longer lead times
As a result of the tax reform (Compliances decree, Legislative Decree no. 1/2024), the presentation of the 730 without tax withholding agent is no longer reserved for those who do not have one: any taxpayer, even with an employer or a pension, can freely choose this route, for example for confidentiality on the outcome of their declaration. In this case, the refund is paid directly by the Revenue Agency to the bank or postal account, generally taking longer than the adjustment made by the employer or pension institution, because it depends on the Agency’s processing and any checks. To avoid delays it is essential to have communicated your IBAN via the reserved area of the site.
Attention to the downside: those who are in debt must pay the sums independently with the F24 form, without deductions on the pay slip or payslip.
If the adjustment is rejected: the denial of 730-4
It may happen that the substitute indicated in the declaration cannot make the adjustment. It happens when there is no tax substitution relationship or when the benefit received is exempt: this is the case, among others, of the single allowance and allowances for the family unit, which do not generate IRPEF taxable income. In these situations a denial communication arrives.
The point that should not be underestimated is that the reimbursement does not start automatically from the Agency. A “type 2” supplementary form 730 must be submitted, indicating a new substitute or the “No substitute” option. With the latter, the credit is reimbursed directly by the Agency to the account communicated, while any debt is paid with F24. The deadline for sending the supplement online from the pre-compiled application is 10 November 2026; anyone who submitted the declaration via CAF or professional must contact the same intermediary, bringing the denial communication.
A warning: the type 2 supplement only serves to correct the data of the withholding agent. If it is also necessary to modify income, expenses or other elements of the declaration, the path is different and passes through the corrective or supplementary income model.
Deadlines to remember
Form 730/2026 can be presented until Wednesday 30 September 2026. There is only one practical rule: the sooner the declaration is sent, the sooner the refund will arrive, and the same goes for those who owe money.
An additional date concerns those who must pay the second or only IRPEF advance installment, withheld in November. Anyone who believes they have to pay less – for example because they incurred many deductible expenses in 2026 – or not at all, must notify their tax withholding agent in writing by 10 October, indicating under their own responsibility the amount they believe is due; INPS provides a dedicated online service. Keep in mind that this year October 10th falls on a Saturday: it’s best not to limit yourself to the last day.
How to check the status of your refund
- employees: verification of the adjustment item on the pay slip;
- pensioners: pension payslip service in the MyINPS area (SPID, CIE or CNS), which also allows you to compare the last two payslips;
- those who have indicated INPS as a substitute can use the service dedicated to tax assistance 730/4, where the accounting results transmitted by the Agency and the outcome of their position are visible: it is the most useful check when the adjustment is late;
- reserved area of the Revenue Agency: useful above all when the Agency has to pay directly, i.e. with 730 without substitute or after a preventive check;
- alternatively, CAF and charities can check the status of the case.
The dates indicated may vary based on the processing times of the individual withholding agent and the Revenue Agency.