April 15, 2026 / 5:00 AM EDT / CBS News
As Tax Day arrives, the average refund in 2026 is $3,462, up 11%—about $350—compared with 2025, according to IRS data. Andrew Lautz, director of tax policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said aggregate and average refunds are up as “millions, if not tens of millions, of taxpayers are claiming one of the new deductions” from last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Deductions lower taxable income and typically reduce what people owe the IRS.
Lautz said the think tank sees many taxpayers taking advantage of changes that eliminate federal income taxes on tips and overtime. A March survey of 1,200 taxpayers by the Bipartisan Policy Center found roughly one-third of respondents received tipped income, overtime pay or both.
Last year, 104 million taxpayers—about 63% of filers—received refunds, according to the IRS. So far in 2026, nearly 70 million filers have gotten tax refunds; refunds will continue after Tax Day, and Lautz expects the average refund size to stay relatively steady.
Investment bank Piper Sandler earlier projected refunds could increase by as much as $1,000 in 2026. Don Schneider, deputy head of U.S. policy at Piper Sandler, called that a “hypothetical maximum” that assumes all filers get a refund. He noted the estimated $106 billion in retroactive tax relief from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will not only show up as refunds but also lower what people owe in taxes.
“If we’re just going to fixate on the refunds themselves or the average size, we’re going to miss half of the story,” Schneider said. “We need to look at the reduction in taxes that people otherwise owe. All of this is suggestive of tax relief probably being stronger than expected when we consider more overtime, more tips, etcetera.”
How will Americans use refunds? As of March 24, 14% of U.S. taxpayers reported receiving a “significantly” larger refund this year, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center survey. A Bank of America Global Research survey found more than one-third of Americans plan to use their IRS refund to reduce debt, while about 13% expect to save it.
Some taxpayers may spend refunds on everyday costs like gas, which rose as global oil prices climbed amid the Iran war. As of Tuesday, the national average for a gallon of regular gas was $4.12, according to AAA. Economists at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research estimate the average U.S. household will spend an additional $740 on gas this year because of the jump in oil prices—about double the average increase in refund sizes so far this year.
Edited by Alain Sherter