The average U.S. taxpayer has received about $350 more in refunds this tax season compared to last, according to the latest statistics released by the Internal Revenue Service.
The figures show that as of early March of last year, individual income taxpayers received an average refund of $3,324. But at the same point this year, that amount reached $3,576 — an increase of $352, or more than 10%. That means the average refund grew about four times faster than inflation over that same period.
While that’s welcome news amid the fast-rising costs of gasoline over the past few weeks, that’s also significantly less than the $800 to $1,000 that some experts and the Trump administration predicted taxpayers would see back in January, as tax filing season began. The amount is also on the low end predicted by the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C., which estimated refunds of between $300 to $1,000 larger than last year.
Boosts to this season’s refunds have been brought on by the passage last summer of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Shepherded through Congress by Republicans, it created new tax breaks such as no taxes on tips, overtime or new car loan interest — as well as larger deductions for state and local taxes paid, parents and people 65 and older.
All of the new rules have made for a complicated tax filing season, with visits to IRS.gov up about 52% this year compared to last year. The IRS has counted more than 321 million visits to its website so far this year, compared to about 211 million at this point in 2025.
Meanwhile, the tax savings for taxpayers — especially big businesses and the very rich — have come with consequences for the country’s bottom line. The national deficit is expected to substantially grow over the next decade. The government also has started to cut health care and food assistance for lower income and elderly Americans.
With four weeks left to go before the April 15 filing deadline, the IRS has processed more than 60 million individual income tax returns and refunded more than $160 billion.
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