Don't Mess With Taxes

Millions of taxpayers who were due refunds and filed as soon as the IRS gave the "go" signal have received their money, according to the tax agency's first filing season statistics report. (Photo by Engin Akyurt)

The first week of the 2025 tax-filing season, which began on Jan. 27 when the Internal Revenue Service started processing returns, is going much like the prior year, at least when it comes to taxpayer submissions.

Basically, people are slow.

But many of those who filed their taxes as soon as possible are happy. They’ve already received their refunds, which is the main motivator of earlier filers every year.

Typical slow start: Through Jan. 31, the IRS reports receiving almost 13.2 million returns.

That’s a drop of 14 percent from the similarly early filings in 2024. And last year’s number of early filers was down 19 percent from 2023.

So, the 2025 tax filing season is, so far, off to a pretty typical start.

Things should even out: This year’s fewer filings are no reason to worry, says the IRS. Such dramatic percentage differences are common at the beginning of each tax season.

Historically, notes the agency, the numbers even out as more people file returns.

Also, in the earliest part of each season, many taxpayers are still waiting on the tax statements they need to accurately complete their 1040 forms. The IRS’ first compilation of 2025 filing season data was done on Jan. 31, the last day that most of those tax documents were supposed to arrive.

But, there is some good news for millions of this year’s early filers

Bigger early refunds: By the end of the first week of the current filing season, the IRS had issued more than 3.23 million refunds. That’s a 23.5 percent increase from the same time period is time last year.

Even better, the average early refund amount was $1,928. That’s $533 more, or a 38.2 percent bump, over last year’s earliest refund average.

Taxpayers who got their refunds directly deposited into a financial account got even more good news.

The average direct deposit refund amount through Jan. 31 was $2,069. That’s a 34.1 percent increase over the $1,543 direct deposit refund average at this time last year.

Tax year crossover: However, the IRS notes that number of direct deposit refunds in its first 2025 filing season tabulation represents more than just current year filings. It also includes refunds from prior year returns that were processed this year.

That makes the number of these refunds greater that the total number of 2025 refunds, which count only those processed this year. And those refunds from older filings that were just recently directly deposited also could pad the average refund amount in that category.

Still, it’s also a given that folks who are expecting refunds, especially large ones, are traditional early filers.

You also might find these items of interest:

• Ways to e-pay your taxes
• 4 ways to file your taxes for free
• 10 reasons to file your tax return early

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