When will your tax refund arrive? There's an app for that

With the onset of the annual tax season in the United States, residents concerned about the status of their refund or their federal tax returns don't have to worry -- because there is an app for that.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the government agency that collects taxes, introduced an app, IRG2Go, the first smartphone application that enables taxpayers to keep track of their returns.

"This new smart phone app reflects our commitment to modernizing the agency and engaging taxpayers where they want when they want it," IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman in a statement.

"As technology evolves and younger taxpayers get their information in new ways, we will keep innovating to make it easy for all taxpayers to access helpful information," he added.

The app can be downloaded for free and requires only basic information from the taxpayer, including how much they expect to receive back from the government.

"This phone app is a first step for us," Shulman said. "We will look for additional ways to expand and refine our use of smartphones and other new technologies to help meet the needs of taxpayers."

In addition to receiving information on their refund, users can get tax updates by entering their e-mail address and tax tips, such as free help and information on education and child tax credits, which are issued daily during the tax filing season that runs in mid-April.

The IRS is also on the microblogging website Twitter. If taxpayers sign up to its feed @IRSnews they will receive tweets about tax changes and other information.