By Leada Gore
al.com
(TNS)
The average tax refund is up almost 11% from last year.
The latest statistics from the Internal Revenue Service showed that, as of March 20, the average tax refund this year is $3,571, a 10.9% increase from last year’s average of $3,221. The average refund via direct deposit is slightly lower, $3,561, an 8% increase from last year’s $3,284.
The IRS has issued 56.7 million refunds, up from 55.7 million last year. The total amount refunded is $202.6 billion, compared to $179.5 last year.
The White House has touted increases in tax refunds due to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The increase is driven by a host of changes, including no tax on tips or overtime, no tax on Social Security and a deduction for auto loan interest for vehicles that were made in America.
Recommended Articles
Here are more key stats from this year:
- The IRS has received 78.9 million tax returns this year, down slightly from 79.6 million at this point last year. It has processed 77.8 million returns, compared to 78.7 million last year.
- It has received 77.57 million tax returns via e-filing, a 0.4% increase from 2025’s filing season. The split between professional tax preparers and self-prepared forms are split fairly evenly—39.7 million and 37.8 million, respectively. The number of returns that are self-prepared is up 2%.
- Usage of IRS.gov continues to soar. So far, the website has been visited 380 million times compared to 244 million last year, up 56% from last year.
Photo credit: Pgiam/iStock
_______
©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit al.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
Thanks for reading CPA Practice Advisor!
Subscribe Already registered? Log In
Need more information? Read the FAQs
