--- title: Is Your Tax Refund Normal? Here's the Average Amount Ahead of Tax Day description: The IRS reports that the average tax refund so far in 2023 is $2,878, a decrease of nearly 10% from last year's average refund. authors: - name: Sarah Hansen role: Senior Writer url: https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/ bio: Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. Previously, she covered economic policy and capital markets on the breaking news desk at Forbes. education: Northwestern University, New York University at_money_since: 2021 articles: 347 covers: - Taxes - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping social: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-m-hansen/ former_staff: true editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Taxes - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-04-17T14:27:54.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T14:43:30.000Z' section: Taxes tags: - News - Taxes word_count: 312 canonical: https://money.com/average-tax-refund-2023/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Collage of man checking his mail with taxforms and money in the background](https://img.money.com/2023/04/News-Avg-Tax-refund-1.jpg) The [tax deadline](https://money.com/tax-deadlines-state-federal-extension/) for 2023 is coming up on Tuesday, April 18. More than 100 million Americans have already [filed their returns](https://money.com/best-tax-prep-software/) — and over two-thirds of them have resulted in tax refunds. As of the week ending April 7, the IRS had paid out more than 69 million refunds — worth nearly $199 billion in total, according to [data](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-april-7-2023) released Friday by the agency. The average tax refund so far this year is $2,878. That’s down from $3,175 during the same week in 2022, a difference of 9.3%. ## Why are tax refunds smaller this year? There’s a good reason that [refunds are smaller this year](https://money.com/why-is-my-tax-refund-lower/) for many taxpayers — it has to do with the expiration of pandemic-era policies. Back in November, the IRS [warned](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/get-ready-now-to-file-your-2022-federal-income-tax-return) taxpayers to expect a smaller check this year. In 2022, refunds got a boost from stimulus checks, expanded credits (including the Child Tax Credit) and other perks designed to help Americans weather the financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis during the 2021 tax year. Now, those policies have expired and refunds are back to normal. If your refund isn’t as large as you’d like this year, it’s worth remembering that in many cases, financial experts say a [smaller refund is actually better](https://money.com/small-tax-refunds-good-thing/). It seems counterintuitive, but a smaller check from the IRS means you aren’t overwithholding from your paycheck — or giving the U.S. government an interest-free loan. For most people, federal taxes are due on Tuesday, April 18. While there’s no penalty for [not filing your taxes on time](https://money.com/dont-file-taxes-on-time-consequences/) if you’re owed a refund by the IRS, filing promptly will ensure you get your money back as [quickly as possible](https://money.com/reasons-to-file-taxes-early/). ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/average-tax-refund-2023/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Taxes", "item": "https://money.com/taxes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tax Refund", "item": "https://money.com/tax-refund/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Is Your Tax Refund Normal? 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