2019 Tax Tracker Week 10: Procrastinator’s Purgatory — Filings Still Down Slightly Just Three Days Before Tax Day

Executive Summary

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tracks tax return filings on a weekly basis.

• As of April 5, the IRS had received 103.5 million tax returns, down 0.3% year over year.
• A total of 77.9 million refunds had been issued as of that date (down 1.5% year over year), totaling $220.8 billion (down 2.6% year over year) and averaging $2,833 (down $31 or 1.1% year over year).
• The top three expected uses for refunds were savings (50% of respondents expecting refunds said they would save the money), paying down debt (34%) and everyday expenses (22%), according to a recent Tax Returns Survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF).