--- title: The Average Tax Refund Is 11% Smaller Than Last Year So Far description: As of Feb. 3, the average early tax refund was $1,963 — down from $2,201 the year before. What's to blame? authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 597 covers: - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2023-02-14T18:49:32.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T13:49:09.000Z' section: Everyday Money tags: - News - Taxes word_count: 343 canonical: https://money.com/irs-tax-refund-smaller-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/). ![Photo Collage of an open envelope, marked "Return", containing two twenty dollar bills and a 104 tax form](https://img.money.com/2023/02/News-Tax-Refund-Smaller-2023.jpg) Taxpayers are beginning to receive refunds from the IRS for the [2023 filing season](https://money.com/tax-season-2023-start-date/), and the early data indicates the average amount is smaller than last year. That’s not surprising. The [IRS warned](https://money.com/irs-warns-tax-refunds-smaller-2023/) Americans in November that the average refund amount may be lower for their 2022 taxes than it was for 2021, in part because no one’s getting stimulus checks or expanded child tax credit payments this time around. ## The numbers As of Feb. 3, the [average refund](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-feb-3-2023) was $1,963, down 10.8% from $2,201 in 2022, according to the most recent numbers released by the IRS. The data comes from 18.9 million tax returns the IRS received, up from 16.7 million at the same time last year. ## Why it matters Taxpayers are getting less money back from the IRS this filing season. One of the main reasons, however, is a unique circumstance involving stimulus payments that only applied to taxpayers who didn’t directly receive a stimulus check. - People who were eligible for stimulus checks in 2021 and didn't get them were able to [claim the amount](https://money.com/claim-stimulus-check-money-taxes/) they were owed on their taxes last filing season. That led to a higher-than-normal typical refund amount — an average of [$3,252](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-december-30-2022). - The IRS also said refund amounts would be different in 2023 due to changes to several pandemic-specific tax credits. Last year, some Americans received larger tax refunds thanks to the expanded child tax credit, which provided parents with up to $3,600 per child. The tax credit still exists, but the maximum has reverted to $2,000 per child for the taxes Americans are filing now. ## Bottom line While the numbers will change as tax season goes on, so far it's looking like the IRS's prediction was right: Most refunds will be smaller this year. That could be disappointing for some taxpayers, given that a recent survey showed 29% of U.S. adults [were expecting larger refunds](https://money.com/gen-z-bigger-tax-refunds-2023/). ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/irs-tax-refund-smaller-2023/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Everyday Money", "item": "https://money.com/section/everyday-money/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Taxes", "item": "https://money.com/tag/taxes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The Average Tax Refund Is 11% Smaller Than Last Year So Far" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/irs-tax-refund-smaller-2023/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/irs-tax-refund-smaller-2023/", "name": "The Average Tax Refund Is 11% Smaller Than Last Year So Far", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-02-14T18:49:32.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/irs-tax-refund-smaller-2023/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/irs-tax-refund-smaller-2023/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T13:49:09.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "The Average Tax Refund Is 11% Smaller Than Last Year So Far", "articleSection": "Everyday Money", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/02/News-Tax-Refund-Smaller-2023.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Tax-Refund-Smaller-2023" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. 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