2019 Tax Tracker Week 6: Filings Catching Up but Still Down Year Over Year

Executive Summary

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

• As of March 8, the IRS had received 67.7 million tax returns, down 2.5% year over year.
• A total of 53.5 million refunds had been issued as of that date (down 3.3% year over year), totaling $160.9 billion (down 3.2% year over year) and averaging $3,008 (up $4 or 0.1% 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 the NRF’s recent annual Tax Returns Survey.