According to the latest filing season statistics for the week ending on February 10, 2023, the IRS has processed approximately 26.6 million tax returns, which marks a 13.6% increase compared to the same period in 2022 when 23.4 million returns were processed. As of February 10, more than 94% of the 28.8 million tax returns received were submitted electronically, which is a significant factor contributing to the faster processing of returns.
The IRS typically, refunds for electronically filed returns are issued within three weeks, whereas those for accurate and complete paper returns are generally issued in 6-8 weeks. Compared to the same period in 2022, the rate of e-file submissions has increased by over 11% for tax professionals, and by 3.4% for individual taxpayers.
There has been an increase in the number of IRS tax returns that have been e-filed
The IRS issued more than 13 million tax refunds, which is a significant increase of 48.4% compared to the 8.9 million refunds issued last year. However, taxpayers received an average refund of $1,997 for returns processed through February 10, whereas during the same period in 2022, the average refund amount was $2,323. This reflects a 14% decrease from the previous year.
The lower average refund amount can be attributed to several factors, including the reduction of certain credits such as the Child Tax Credit (CTC), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and Child and Dependent Care Credit back to pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, the removal of the above-the-line charitable deduction could further contribute to lower refunds for taxpayers.
The number of taxpayers visiting the IRS website this tax season has decreased
Compared to last year, the IRS has experienced a 13.4% decline in website traffic, possibly because tax professionals and taxpayers are finding it more convenient to reach IRS representatives by phone to address their queries. According to an IRS spokesperson, there has been a significant surge in calls to the Practitioner Priority hotline and the taxpayer phone line, with 89% of tax pros’ and taxpayers’ calls being answered by customer service representatives and 93% answered when automated responses are included (chatbots). In contrast, during the same period last year, the IRS could only answer 13% of calls.
Although it’s early in the tax season, the progress so far is promising. However, with an estimated 168 million individual tax returns expected to be filed this year, there is still much work to be done.
