The IRS announced on Friday that it has issued over 2.6 million refunds totaling approximately $3.65 billion so far this tax season. The current average refund is $1,395, a 29% decrease from last year’s average refund of $1,963 at this same time. Nevertheless, the first filing season statistics for 2024 are only based on five days of data compared to 12 days in 2023, according to the IRS.
Despite the slight decrease in average refunds, IRS statistics suggest a “strong start to filing season 2024.” Mark Steber, chief tax information officer at Jackson Hewitt urges consumers to not read too much into the early statistics as they are based on only 5 days of data. Additionally, certain filers must wait until February 27th to receive refunds, such as those claiming the refundable portion of the child tax credit or earned income tax credit.
Steber also anticipates that larger refunds will be seen due to higher inflation in 2023. However, there is pending tax legislation in Congress which could potentially increase refunds for eligible filers through retroactively boosting the child tax credit for 2023. Despite this, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel is encouraging taxpayers to file as soon as they are ready and not to wait on Congress.