Tax Season 2024: IRS Has Paid $152B in Refunds So Far

The 2024 tax season has been chugging along for over seven weeks now, and there’s a bit less than a month left until everything wraps up, with the season having kicked off on Jan. 29 and ending April 15. The amount of tax refund money the IRS has sent out is continuing to pick up, even though the total number of refunds sent so far in 2024 is continuing to lag behind the numbers for the same period in 2023.

Taxpayers can normally expect to receive a refund within 21 days if they file electronically and choose direct deposit, the IRS said. But by March 15, the IRS had issued more than 49.1 million refunds. By comparison, the IRS had sent out over 53.9 million refunds by March 17, 2023. 

Tax season last year started six days earlier, however, on Jan. 23, so the IRS had nearly a week longer to receive and process tax returns and send refunds. Though, it seems that the agency is beginning to catch, and even surpass, last year’s numbers. 

Here’s how the IRS is doing this year. For more on taxes, check out our essential 2024 tax filing cheat sheet, how to track your refund with the IRS and the best tax software for 2024.

How many tax returns has the IRS processed so far in 2024? 

As of March 15, the IRS said it had processed 70.5 million federal income tax returns, down by 1.2% from the 71.4 million it got through this time last year. With tax season starting earlier in 2023 — Jan. 23 versus Jan. 29 — filers had six more days last year to send in their tax returns.

The IRS had also received 71.5 million returns by March 15, down by a mere 0.4% from the 71.8 million it received by March 17, 2023.

Of the 71.5 million returns received so far, just over 69.5 million of those were filed electronically, the IRS said — 34.8 million from professional tax preparers and another 34.6 million from self-preparers.

How many tax refunds has the IRS issued so far? 

The IRS has issued more than 49.1 million refunds as of March 15, down by 8.8% from the 53.9 million it had sent out by March 17, 2023. 

In the first seven weeks of this tax year, the IRS refunded over $152.7 billion — down by just 3.4% from the $158 billion sent out by March 17 last year. Again, the 2023 tax season began six days earlier.

How do 2024’s tax refunds stack up to 2023’s so far?

The average refund size is up by 6%, from $2,933 for 2023’s tax season through March 17, to $3,109 for this season through March 15.

While the average refund size is up so far compared to the same time last year, the IRS told CNET that making year-to-date comparisons can be tricky because of how much earlier it started last year. The agency did say the 2024 tax season is off to a strong start, with all systems running well. 

Of those who received refunds, 47.5 million chose direct deposit, and their refund was $3,177. By comparison, for the same time period last year, 50.9 million direct depositors had already received their return, which averaged $3,019.

For more, here are the dates you need to know to get you through this tax season. For more on taxes, here’s how to set up an account on the IRS website and what to know about this year’s child tax credit.