The IRS Has Issued $179 Billion in Tax Refunds so Far in 2025

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US income taxes are due in a little over two weeks, and means millions of taxpayers have already filed their tax return and received their tax refunds. On Friday, the IRS said it has processed over 78 million tax returns and issued 55 million tax refunds.

Through the eighth week of the 2024 tax season, the average refund amount had risen by approximately 4.6% compared to 2023’s season. Read on for a breakdown of how the IRS is performing this season with just about two weeks left until Tax Day.

For more tax tips, check out our essential tax filing cheat sheet and how to track your refund from the IRS into your bank account. Check out our pick for the best tax software of 2025. 

How many tax returns has the IRS processed so far in 2025?

On Friday, the IRS released statistics comparing its progress through the eighth week of tax season 2024 (ending March 22, 2024) with its progress through the eighth week of 2025 (ending March 21, 2025). So far this year, the IRS has processed 78.6 million federal income tax returns, down 0.7% from the 79.2 million returns it had processed by the same time last year. 

The IRS has also received more than 79.6 million tax returns total so far, compared with 80.4 million last year, marking a 1.1% decrease. 

The agency also breaks down how returns have been filed, with 77.2 million returns received electronically (40 million filed by tax professionals and 37 million self-prepared). 

How many tax refunds has the IRS issued in 2025?

The IRS has issued 55.7 million refunds, a 1.3% increase from the approximate 54.9 million sent out at this point in March 2024.

The average tax refund amount so far is $3,221, up 4.6% from last year’s average of $3,081 at this time last year. 

How do 2025’s tax refunds compare to 2024’s so far?

So far, the IRS has issued $179.4 billion in tax refunds, a 5.9% increase from the $169.4 billion in tax refunds the agency had issued by this time in March 2024.

The IRS noted that large percentage differences in filing statistics are typical for the beginning of each tax season. It accurately predicted that the numbers would even out as more people gather important tax documents and file the closer we get to the April 15 deadline.