2019 Tax Tracker Week 8: Filings Still Down Versus Last Year with Three Weeks to Go

Executive Summary

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

• As of March 22, the IRS had received 84.1 million tax returns, down 1.9% year over year.
• Some 65.8 million refunds had been issued as of that date (down 2.6% year over year), totaling $191.9 billion (down 2.9% year over year) and averaging $2,915 (down $10 or 0.3% 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).