By Erik Bascome
Staten Island Advance, N.Y.
(TNS)
Nearly 75 million Americans have already received their annual tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), with the average refund totaling thousands of dollars.
Through April 11—the latest date currently available—the agency has issued 74,858,000 refunds, roughly 0.2% more than the 74,685,000 that had been issued by that time last year.
In total, the agency has issued roughly $228.7 billion in refunds, up 3.9% from the $220.2 billion issued at that time in 2024.
The average refund amount through April 11 was $3,055, roughly 3.6% higher than the average refund of $2,948 at that time last year.
Through Feb. 14, the average had been just $2,169 but has increased dramatically now that the IRS has begun issuing refunds to taxpayers who claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit, the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit.
Due to the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act, or PATH Act, which took effect during the 2017 filing season, the IRS legally cannot issue refunds or credits to anyone who claimed an Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit before Feb. 15.
The policy was implemented “to help prevent revenue loss due to identity theft and refund fraud related to fabricated wages and withholdings,” according to the IRS.
Tracking your refund
If you’re one of the millions of Americans who have already sent in their tax returns, there are online portals that will allow you to monitor the status of your refund.
For federal taxes, residents can use the IRS “Where’s My Refund” tool or the IRS2Go mobile app to see when their refunds have been received, processed and sent.
Refund status will appear roughly 24 hours after you e-file a current-year return, three or four days after you e-file a prior-year return, or four weeks after you file a paper return.
To access the information, which is updated overnight each day, residents must provide their Social Security or individual taxpayer ID number, filing status and exact refund amount on their return.
Once refunds are sent, those using direct deposit should receive their refund within five days, while those expecting checks in the mail may have to wait several weeks.
Editor’s note: Here are the latest tax filing season statistics from the IRS:
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Jessica Dietz May 1 2025 at 5:59 pm
I filed Jan. 28 and have yet to receive a refund. I tried the number online and its automated. What can I do? Need money.