Each year the Ala bama Depart ment of Rev e nue receives over 1.8 million income tax re turns. Of this number, over 1 million taxpayers receive refunds. The Depart ment makes every effort to process your refund as quickly as possible, and there are several things you, the taxpayer, can do to help us accomplish this. The date you file your return and how you file determines when you can expect your refund. For example, electronically filed returns are received and processed significantly faster than returns that are mailed to the Department of Revenue. Also, if you mail in an error-free return in January or February, you can expect to receive your refund sooner than if you wait until March or April to file. Returns filed this close to the deadline may require 90 days to process.