2019 Tax Tracker Week 9: Filings Still Down with Two Weeks to Go Until April 15

Executive Summary

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

• As of March 29, the IRS had received 92.9 million tax returns, down 1.4% year over year.
• A total of 71.8 million refunds had been issued as of that date (down 2.2% year over year), totaling $206.1 billion (down 2.9% year over year) and averaging $2,873 (down $20 or 0.7% 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).