2026 Tax Refunds Increase to $351. Here’s What It Says To You
The average tax refund so far in the 2026 tax season is no closer to being more than $1,000 higher than last year, as the White House suggests is likely. But it went up by $351.
The Internal Revenue Service indicated that first-time filers saw an average refund amount of $3,804 through Feb. 20, according to data released on Friday, Feb. 27.
That’s up 10.2% from an average of $3,453 at the same time last year.
The latest statistics compare the results of this year’s filling season through Feb. 20 and last year’s results until Feb. 21, 2025. The IRS began accepting and processing federal income tax returns on Jan. 26. As a result, we are seeing glimpses of the first four weeks of the long tax season. The application deadline is April 15.
The IRS issued more than $28.7 million in tax refunds on February 20, according to the latest data released on Friday, Feb. 27.
That’s down 3% from the same period last year when more than $29.6 million in federal income tax refunds were issued.
The average return is actually greater than what we saw during this same period in 2025. But it always falls short of expectations.
According to a post on the White House website, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was set to usher in “the biggest tax refund season ever, with average refunds expected to increase by $1,000 or more this year due to reform policies.”
Last year, the average federal income tax return was $3,167 at the end of 2025 — up 0.9% from 2024, according to the IRS.
Will the average refund increase nearly 32% — or reach $4,167 — by the end of 2026? We will see what happens. The IRS releases tax season updates every week.
Tax filers have received more than $109.3 billion in tax refunds so far this year as of February 20. That’s up 6.9% from a year ago.
By law, the Internal Revenue Service cannot issue federal income tax returns before Feb. 15 for returns claiming earned income tax credit or additional child tax credit.
This year, the IRS expects more refunds for early filers who claim the earned income tax credit and the additional child tax credit will be available to bank accounts or debit cards by March 2 – if taxpayers chose direct deposit and have no other issues with their returns.
Some experts are still concerned that some taxpayers may face delays in receiving their tax refunds this year, especially if mistakes are made to claim the new income tax break, overtime pay, interest on new car loans for cars last assembled in the United States, and the new enhanced deduction for seniors.
National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins noted that this tax season the IRS will face a 27% reduction in its staff, a turnover in the leadership of this organization and all the challenges of making complex changes to the tax laws that came into force in 2025 after the One Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law on July 4.
The IRS processed more than 41.3 million returns in the first four weeks through Feb. 20 than at the same time last year. That’s down 2.4% from last year.
The IRS received more than 41.8 million tax returns as of February 20, down 1.9% from last year.
One statistic seems to indicate that taxpayers have a lot of questions this tax season. The number of visits to IRS.gov where most questions can be answered increased by 46.3% in the first four weeks. A recent report revealed that the IRS website has had more than 244.5 million visits to the site so far this year.
Contact financial columnist Susan Tompor: [email protected]. Follow him on X @tompor.
This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press: 2026 tax refunds increase by $351. Here’s what it says to you.
Reporting by Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
