Data that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) put out for the current filing season shows the average refund has climbed 11% compared with the same stretch in 2025. Numbers updated through April 3 put the typical reimbursement for individual taxpayers at $3,462. Back on the equivalent date last year, that figure stood at $3,116.
The US tax authority made the announcement on a Friday, explaining that those calculations come from about 99.8 million individual returns processed so far. The total number of forms expected for the whole season is roughly 164 million, with everyone racing toward the April 15 deadline. The exact percentage difference between the two periods is 11.1%, per IRS records.
Current Tax Refunds Are Close to $3,500
Looking at the official report, the average refund for individual filers as of April 3 was $3,462. That compares with roughly $3,116 a year earlier. The IRS released those details on Friday and added that 99.8 million returns had come in, out of a projected 164 million by the deadline.
Institutional sources say many taxpayers are seeing larger refunds this season because of legislative changes that took effect in 2025. Those changes were enacted through President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Republicans have pointed to signature Trump administration policies—new deductions for tips, overtime pay, and auto loan interest—as key drivers behind the higher average refunds.
Where Americans’ Larger Tax Refunds Might Go
Still, some analysts caution that rising gasoline prices, tied to the conflict with Iran, could partly eat into that windfall for taxpayers. Both political parties have been talking up affordability ahead of the November midterms, as many Americans struggle with climbing costs for gas, electricity, food, and other everyday expenses.
A quarterly survey from CNBC and SurveyMonkey on financial habits came out in April, based on answers from 3,494 US adults at the end of March. It found that nearly a quarter of people expecting a refund—23%—plan to use that money to pay down credit card debt. Another 23% said they would save the payment instead.
How Average Refunds Have Behaved Historically
Even with the legal changes pushed by the Trump administration, the pattern for average tax refunds has tracked closely with prior years. The biggest payments showed up at the end of February, and amounts have slowly drifted downward as Tax Day approaches. That trend has held steady compared with earlier filing seasons.
In a January 26 statement, the White House claimed the average taxpayer could get an extra $1,000 or more, citing early October data from the investment bank Piper Sandler. But real-world average refunds haven’t reached that level. Year-over-year increases have been about $350 in the most recent IRS updates.
The tax authority plans to put out two more updates before the April 15 deadline, so the final average number could still shift. “It appears that tip and overtime payers were incentivized to file early, possibly in anticipation of larger refunds,” said Andrew Lautz, director of tax policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonprofit think tank, during a press conference on Thursday.
What Might Happen With Last‑Minute Filers
A March survey from the Bipartisan Policy Center, covering 1,200 Americans, found that about 81% of filers who earn tips or overtime pay were likely to submit their returns in January or February. Lautz said that if this trend holds more broadly, the average refund size could end up smaller by April 15 than it was in the earlier part of filing season.
On the other hand, Lautz noted that people who wait until the last minute and claim the federal deduction limit for state and local taxes—known as SALT—could push average payments higher. For the 2025 tax year, legislation backed by the Trump administration raised the SALT cap from $10,000 to $40,000. That change could deliver bigger refunds to eligible filers who itemize their tax exemptions.
