How to Read IRS Filing Season Statistics — Returns, Refunds and the Average Refund

As of 13 November 2026, 00:13 KST (retrieved by this page at that time); the latest 2026 entry shown in the yearly list (Filing season statistics by year) at retrieval: the IRS filing season statistics for the week ending May 8, 2026. The figures are cumulative from the opening of the 2026 filing season to Friday, May 8, 2026, and cover individual income tax returns. Primary source: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-may-8-2026^[1][5]

Comparison basis: counts are displayed rounded to thousands and amounts to millions of dollars; week-to-week differences subtract the displayed values, and year-ago changes are the IRS %Change column, which this page reproduced from the displayed values to one decimal for every row. The IRS compares cumulative totals at the corresponding Friday of the prior year: May 8, 2026 and May 9, 2025 are both 102 days after the seasons opened (Jan. 26, 2026 and Jan. 27, 2025), by this page's count.^[1][2][5]

In three lines

1. By May 8, 2026 the IRS had received 144,992,000 individual returns for the 2026 season, 0.6% fewer than at the same point in 2025.
2. It had issued 99,138,000 refunds worth $324.757 billion, an average refund of $3,276, 11.5% above the $2,939 a year earlier.
3. These are cumulative counts to a date in May, not full-year totals.^[1]

Cumulative and comparative. The by-year page says: "Each year the IRS provides weekly cumulative statistics for returns filed, returns processed and refunds issued during the filing season and then at certain points after the filing season." It adds: "The statistics compare totals as of Friday compared with the corresponding Friday in the prior year." Each figure is therefore a running total since the season opened, compared with the running total at the matching Friday a year earlier.^[5]

Two bases inside one table. The 2026 footnote says: "Total refunds issued represents refunds for returns received and processed in 2026 – current year returns only." and "The number of direct deposit refunds represents refunds for current and prior year returns processed in 2026." The IRS thus says the total refund count covers current-year returns, while the direct deposit refund count also covers prior-year returns processed in 2026; the footnote does not speak of amounts.^[1]

Received, processed, refunded. Returns received (144,992,000) and processed (143,925,000) are different stages; e-filed returns (141,046,000) are split between tax professionals (75,316,000) and self-prepared returns (65,730,000). The e-file total carries the label may not equal subtotals due to rounding: on the May 1 page the two parts add to 140,235,000 against a total of 140,234,000.^[1][2]

Average refund. The average refund equals the amount refunded divided by the number of refunds: $324.757 billion over 99,138,000 gives $3,276, as printed, and the same division reproduces $2,939 for 2025 and $3,273 for May 1, 2026 (this page's check). It is an average over refunds issued, not over all returns.^[1][2]

More direct deposit refunds than refunds. On May 8, 2026 the table shows 99,225,000 direct deposit refunds against 99,138,000 refunds in total, 87,000 more; on May 1 the gap was 216,000. The footnote explains this for the number of refunds. On May 1 the direct deposit amount ($320.660 billion) also exceeds the total amount refunded ($320.473 billion), by $0.187 billion, while the footnote speaks only of the number; whether the amounts follow the same split is not established. On May 8 the direct deposit amount is $0.013 billion below the total.^[1][2]

A 62.6% jump in IRS.gov visits. The May 9, 2025 page marked the change NA and said: "Changes were made from 2024 to 2025 in the analytics methodology used to evaluate the number of visits to IRS.gov." It continued: "As a result, comparison of data sets from year to year should not be made." The May 8, 2026 page prints +62.6% for 2025 to 2026 without a note, and the Dec. 26, 2025 page prints +0.7% for 2024 to 2025, the comparison the May 2025 note advised against. Whether the 2025 and 2026 counts use the same method is not stated, so this page does not treat the 62.6% as a like-for-like change; it is not established.^[1][3][4]

The year-ago column. Every 2025 value on the May 8, 2026 page, from returns received (145,855,000) to the average direct deposit refund ($3,034), matches the values currently shown on the May 9, 2025 page (this page's row-by-row check).^[1][3]

Fewer returns, more refunds. Returns received are 0.6% below a year earlier while the number of refunds is 6.0% higher and the amount refunded 18.1% higher. The pages give no explanation, so this page draws no conclusion about the reasons.^[1][2]

Most, but not all, of the season. For the 2025 season the IRS printed 145,855,000 returns received by May 9, 2025 and 165,824,000 by Dec. 26, 2025, so the May count was 88.0% of the December count (this page's calculation). Refunds issued were 93,569,000 in May and 103,846,000 in December, 90.1%.^[3][4]

The average moved after May. The 2025 average refund was $2,939 at May 9 and $3,167 at Dec. 26, $228 higher. A May average therefore differs from the end-of-year figure; the pages give no reason for the difference.^[3][4]

Separate annual tables. The IRS Filing season statistics page lists separate tables by size of adjusted gross income at late May, mid-July and mid-November; the newest year listed there at retrieval is 2025, and the page was last updated 15-Jul-2026. Those tables are a different product from the weekly counts used here.^[6]

Dates kept apart. Data: cumulative to Friday, May 8, 2026 (previous week: May 1, 2026; year ago: May 9, 2025). Page updates, as each page shows them: "Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 18-May-2026" on the May 8, 2026 page and the by-year page, "Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 08-May-2026" on the May 1 page, "Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 16-May-2026" on the May 9, 2025 page and "Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 14-May-2026" on the Dec. 26, 2025 page. Season start: Jan. 26, 2026.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Next release. The latest 2026 entry shown in the yearly list at retrieval is May 8, 2026. For the 2025 season it lists later entries for 10/17/2025 and 12/26/2025, and for 2024 it lists 10/18/2024 and 12/27/2024. Whether and when later 2026 statistics will be posted is not stated, so it is not established.^[5]