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The common tax refund is 10.9% larger to date this season, in comparison with about the identical level in 2025, in accordance with early submitting information from the IRS.
The 2026 tax season opened Jan. 26, and the common refund quantity was $2,290 as of Feb. 6, up from $2,065 about one yr prior, the IRS reported Friday night time.
As of Feb. 6, the whole quantity refunded was greater than $16.9 billion, up 1.9% in comparison with final yr, in accordance with the IRS launch. That determine displays current-year returns solely.
Earlier on Friday, Treasury Secretary and performing IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent instructed CNBC’s “Squawk Field” that refunds had been up 22%. But it surely was unclear what number of days of returns Bessent’s determine mirrored or what comparability interval he used.
The Treasury Division didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The IRS launch stated “common refund quantities are robust,” and the determine will enhance within the Feb. 27 launch as soon as the company begins issuing refunds that embrace earned revenue tax credit score or extra little one tax credit score.
“Early information [for refunds] might be deceiving,” Andrew Lautz, director of tax coverage for the Bipartisan Coverage Middle, a nonprofit assume tank, wrote in a tax season information on Jan. 22.
Usually, filers obtain a refund after they overpay taxes all year long by way of paycheck withholdings or estimated funds. Alternatively, filers owe a steadiness after they do not pay sufficient.
In recent times, IRS information has mirrored a smaller refund through the starting of the tax season, however these funds have “risen sharply” in mid-February, Lautz wrote.
After the February peak, the typical refund has “declined barely” by the April 15 deadline, he wrote.
In 2025, the common refund for particular person filers was $3,052 by Oct. 17, in accordance with the IRS.
Filers might see greater tax refunds
For the 2026 submitting season, the dimensions of tax refunds has been a key political subject with the midterm elections approaching.
President Donald Trump has promised that 2026 would be the “largest tax refund season of all time” based mostly on modifications enacted by way of his “massive stunning invoice.”
The laws added new tax breaks for 2025, and the IRS didn’t regulate paycheck withholdings, which might end in refunds for a lot of employees.
Nevertheless, there might be “numerous variation between taxpayers,” Garrett Watson, director of coverage evaluation on the Tax Basis, beforehand instructed CNBC.
Finally, the dimensions of your refund, or steadiness due, is dependent upon which new tax breaks apply to your scenario and the way a lot you paid all year long, specialists say.
