Tax Return Tracker #8 One of the benefits we get for our precious tax dollars in the US is that Uncle Sam (through the Internal Revenue Service) provides data on the number of returns filed, refunds paid and so on throughout the tax-‐filing season.
We’re now eleven weeks into the 2015 tax-‐filing season.
So far this year, the IRS has received 82.3 million tax returns (down about half a percent from this time last year), of which 80.4 million returns have been processed.
Of the returns received, 92% were filed electronically. Of those, 56% were prepared by tax professionals and 44% were self-‐prepared.
More people are using the IRS website to get information, and the more than 231 million website visits were up 11.5% versus the same period last year.
So far this year, more than 66.1 million refunds have been issued, totaling $191.2 billion s and averaging $2,893 each. The number of refunds issued is down 1.9% (more than the decline in the number of tax returns received), and the average refund amount is down (-‐1.2%) from last year at this time. Of those refunds, 88% were paid using direct deposit.
2015 FILING SEASON STATISTICS Cumulative statistics comparing year-‐to-‐date through 3/21/14 and 3/20/15, respectively Individual Income Tax Returns:
2014
2015
% Change
Total Receipts 82,823,000 82,289,000 (-‐0.6) Total Processed 81,149,000 80,439,000 (-‐0.9) E-‐filing Receipts: Total 75,610,000 76,022,000 0.5 Tax Professionals 43,953,000 42,711,000 (-‐2.8) Self-‐Prepared 31,657,000 33,311,000 5.2 Web Usage: Visits to IRS.gov 207,734,597 231,552,756 11.5 Total Refunds: Number 67,383,000 66,108,000 (-‐1.9) Amount ($Bil.) $193.543 $191.233 (-‐1.2) Average Refund $2,872 $2,893 0.7 Direct Deposit Refunds: Number 57,101,000 57,944,000 1.5 Amount ($Bil.) $170.187 $176.058 3.4 Average Refund $2,980 $3,038 1.9
Recent National Retail Federation (NRF) Survey: No Splurge Planned with This Year’s Refunds
According to a recent survey commissioned by the NRF and conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics, nearly two-‐thirds of responders (65.7%) are expecting a refund this year.
A breakdown of participants’ intentions for their tax refunds (versus last year) is below.
PARTICIPANTS’ PLANS FOR TAX REFUNDS
Source: NRF and Prosper Insights and Analytics
According to the survey, young adults are highly savings-‐oriented, with 54.9% of the 18–24-‐year-‐olds surveyed planning to put their refunds into savings and 34.4% planning to pay down debt. This year, 64% of surveyed adults plan to file their taxes online, down from 64.9% last year.
Generally, the largest group of the surveyed plans to file in February, with relatively few participants waiting to file until the final month of April.
