True to the IRS’s warning, tax refunds are worth a few hundred dollars less this filing season than they were last year, on average.
The average tax refund as of Feb. 10, 2023, is $1,997, compared to an average of $2,323 last year. That’s a 14% drop, according to statistics released by the IRS.
It is possible that that average will change as more people file their taxes—the deadline isn’t for another two months—but the decrease makes sense. Taxpayers did not receive COVID-19 relief including stimulus checks and certain tax deductions and credits, like the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC), in 2022. Those provisions led to increased refunds for many people the past two years.
For example, a family that received $3,600 per dependent in 2021 for the CTC will get $2,000 per dependent for the 2022 tax year. And taxpayers who don’t itemize their taxes cannot deduct their charitable contributions this year, as in the past few years.
As of Feb. 10, the IRS had received almost 29 million returns, and processed more than 26.6 million of those. But the IRS is still working through a backlog of some returns filed last year. That could further delay those filers possible refunds this year.
“The IRS cautions taxpayers not to rely on receiving a 2022 federal tax refund by a certain date, especially when making major purchases or paying bills,” the agency warned in November. “Some returns may require additional review and may take longer.”
Taxpayers who file a paper return may wait up to six months to receive a refund, according to the IRS. To receive your refund as quickly as possible, the agency encourages taxpayers to file electronically.
Filers can still use the agency’s Where’s My Refund? tool to get updates.
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