{"id":41585,"date":"2026-02-27T20:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T20:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=41585"},"modified":"2026-02-27T20:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T20:22:16","slug":"average-irs-tax-refund-is-up-10-2-based-on-early-filing-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=41585","title":{"rendered":"Average IRS tax refund is up 10.2%, based on early filing data"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Andreypopov | Istock | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The\u00a0average tax refund<\/a>\u00a0is 10.2% higher so far this season, compared to about the same period in 2025, according to the latest IRS filing data. The year-over-year percentage change is down from the 14.2% increase reported last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As of Feb. 20, the average refund amount<\/a> for individual filers was $3,804, up from $3,453 about one year prior, the IRS reported on Friday. <\/p>\n

The total amount refunded was about $109 billion, up 6.9% from 2025, according to the IRS release. But the total returns processed were down by 2.4%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Read more CNBC personal finance coverage<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Amid consumer concerns about affordability<\/a>, the Trump administration has emphasized how Trump’s “big beautiful bill”<\/a> may impact the size of tax refunds this season. <\/p>\n

In a late January release<\/a>, the White House said average tax refunds could increase “by $1,000 or more,” citing several media reports that reference early October research from investment bank Piper Sandler.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A Feb. 26 report from Oxford Economics estimates that tax refunds will jump by nearly 20% this year, with more benefits flowing to middle- and upper-income households than usual, based on changes enacted via Trump’s 2025 tax cuts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, individual refunds could vary based on 2025 paycheck withholdings<\/a> and which of Trump’s provisions impact their family’s situation, experts say. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Average tax refunds typically increase by late February <\/h2>\n
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By law, the IRS can’t send refunds claiming the earned income tax credit<\/a> or the refundable part of the child tax credit<\/a>, known as the additional child tax credit or ACTC, until Feb. 15.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That means the agency’s first two filing season statistics<\/a> releases, reflecting data through Feb. 6 and Feb. 13, respectively, did not include the millions of refunds with these credits.<\/p>\n

“As we head into late February, the average refund size pops \u2014 it gets larger,” said Andrew Lautz, director of tax policy for the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonprofit think tank. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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From Feb. 13 to Feb. 20, the average tax refund size jumped from $2,476 to $3,804. But with limited tax filing data, it’s too early to make conclusions about average tax refunds this season, experts say.<\/p>\n

For 2025 returns, the maximum EITC is worth up to $8,046<\/a> for filers with three or more qualifying children. For 2024 returns, the average EITC payment<\/a> was $2,916, according to the IRS. Trump’s tax cuts did not change the EITC for 2025.<\/p>\n

Trump’s legislation made permanent a higher child tax credit<\/a> and boosted the maximum tax break to $2,200. The refundable portion, ACTC, will continue to adjust to inflation, but Trump’s cuts did not change the amount from 2024. The ACTC is worth up to $1,700 for 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andreypopov | Istock | Getty Images The\u00a0average tax refund\u00a0is 10.2% higher so far this season, compared to about…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":41586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-41585","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-investing","8":"cs-entry","9":"cs-video-wrap"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}