According to the IRS, the agency has received about 42.7 million tax returns and processed roughly 42.3 million as of Feb. 21. Now, it appears that the IRS might be planning anoth

Since the start of tax season, the IRS has issued more than $100 billion in tax refunds to Americans, with the average refund amount rising compared to 2024.

Unemployment debt: The third type of debt that the IRS can use your tax refund to pay down, unemployment compensation debt racks up when you are, for whatever reason, overpaid when receiving unemployment payments and are required to pay back some or – yikes – all of the money you received.

While refunds are up, the number of people who’ve filed already is down compared to 2024. The IRS has received 42.7 million returns in 2025, down 4.2 percent compared to this time last year. Even with the number of returns not keeping pace with 2024, the total number of refunds issued so far (29.6 million) is up 2.3 percent.

The IRS has issued more than 29.6 million individual income tax refunds through Feb. 21, up 2.3% from a year ago.

As tax season unfolds in 2025, taxpayers are experiencing unexpected delays in their refunds. With 7.7% fewer returns received by the IRS, several factors are contributing to this slowdown.