The IRS Paid Out More Than 20% More in Refunds This Year, and the Average Refund Rose 11%, Its Year-End Numbers Show

Taxpayers who filed this spring got bigger refunds than a year earlier, and the IRS has now put year-end numbers on how much bigger. In its fiscal 2026 results, released Oct. 29, the agency said total refunds paid out rose by more than 20% and the average refund climbed 11%, according to IRS news release IR-2026-129.

The release did not give a dollar total for refunds paid. The agency’s weekly filing-season tables, which do, show where the money went.

The IRS says refunds paid out rose by more than 20%

The release compares the 2026 filing season with 2025 on several measures. Total refund dollars claimed were up 17%, the average refund was up 11%, and total refunds dispersed were up more than 20%. Refunds issued by direct deposit rose 12%.

The speed held up too. About 90% of electronic filers who received a refund got it in less than 21 days, the IRS said. The agency collected a record $5.6 trillion in taxes in fiscal 2026, up nearly 5% from the year before, and the overall average tax rate fell to 12.6%, a 4% decrease from 2025, it said.

IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano credited the agency’s workforce for what he called a successful filing season, as the IRS moves toward becoming a “Digital-First agency.”

Weekly filing data put the average refund at $3,276

The IRS publishes cumulative statistics every week of the season, and its table for the period ending May 8 gives the dollar amounts. Through that date, the IRS had issued 99,138,000 refunds totaling $324.757 billion, up 18.1% from $274.979 billion at the same point in 2025. The average refund was $3,276, up 11.5% from $2,939.

Direct deposit carried most of the load. Through May 8, direct deposit refunds totaled $324.744 billion, up 23.1%, with an average of $3,273, up 7.9%, according to the same table.

Earlier in the season the picture was similar. As of April 17, the IRS had issued 90,411,000 refunds for $296.067 billion, up 17.0%, with an average of $3,275, up 11.3%.

The number of refunds rose 6.0% through May 8, but the dollar total rose 18.1%, which means each refund was larger on average and there were also more of them.

The number of returns barely changed. The IRS received 144,992,000 individual returns through May 8, down 0.6% from the year before. So the jump came from larger refunds and a higher share of returns that produced one, not from more filers.

The IRS notes that the 2026 total-refund figures cover current-year returns only, while direct deposit counts include current and prior-year returns processed in 2026. The weekly tables and the year-end release measure slightly different things, so their percentages differ.

Treasury points to new deductions for the bigger checks

Why did refunds grow? Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the overtime premium pay deduction was the most popular new deduction in last year’s tax law, calling it “the home run” of the law and saying 25% of returns had claimed it, according to a Reuters report summarized by the New York State Society of CPAs. Bessent said nearly half of all taxpayers had claimed at least one new deduction. The law also added breaks for tips, Social Security income and auto loan interest on U.S.-made vehicles, and a larger state and local tax deduction.

The same report put the average refund at $3,571 as of March 20, which was $350, or 10.9%, more than at that point in 2025. Bessent also said some workers were changing their withholding, a move he described as “automatic pay increases.” The report does not say how much each deduction added to the average refund.

One caution applies to the headline number. A refund is the gap between what an employer withheld during 2025 and what the household actually owed. A larger check can mean larger deductions, but it can also mean more tax was taken out of paychecks than needed.

What the year-end numbers mean for the next filing season

For households, the practical lesson is in the withholding, not the refund. Workers who see a large refund each spring can compare it with their withholding and decide whether to adjust it so more of the money arrives in each paycheck instead.

The IRS data also show how heavily people use its digital tools. Taxpayers made nearly 469 million refund status checks this year, and IRS.gov recorded more than 954 million visits, according to the release. The tool is available 24 hours after e-filing a current-year return, and e-filed refunds usually arrive about 21 days after filing, according to the IRS refunds page. Mailed returns take six or more weeks after the IRS receives them.

Other digital figures in the release point the same way. Individual Online Account users reached about 37.6 million, up 34%, with 224 million logins, and payments made through those accounts rose 57% to more than $133.6 billion. The new IRS mobile app had more than 140,000 downloads in its first five days.

Checking on a refund takes a few details. The refunds page says the status tool asks for the exact refund amount, the Social Security number or ITIN, the filing status and the tax year, all of which appear on the return. An automated refund hotline is available at 800-829-1954, and amended returns have their own line at 866-464-2050.

The release also said the IRS protected about $38 billion in revenue from identity-theft refund fraud in fiscal 2026.

Get stories like this by email. Sign up for The Parent Diaries Letter.

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Carol M. Highsmith – Public domain/Wikimedia Commons