Tax Refunds Are Shaping up to Be Smaller This Year. Here’s Why.

Government income tax cuts, as promised, increased take-home pay for many people this year. But the downside is that tax returns are shaping up to be smaller.

On average, returns are about 8.4 percent smaller this year. Specifically, the average tax refund this year is $1,865, or $170 smaller than last year’s average of $2,035, according to IRS figures. The IRS data compared the cumulative statistics of Feb. 2, 2018 and Feb. 1, 2019, according to published reports.

“While some people likely noticed an uptick in their take-home pay, the amount might have been small enough that people didn’t notice, especially those who get direct deposit and might not look at their pay stubs,” NBC News explained. . .

One reason it’s happening is due to adjusted tax withholding tables under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in 2017. This marks the first year the changes went into effect. . .

To date, the IRS has received 12.4 percent less individual income tax returns than it did at this time last year, according to published reports. In all, $8.713 billion in tax refunds have been paid this year to 4,672,000 taxpayers. At the same time last year, 6,171,000 taxpayers received $12.560 billion in returns. (Read more from “Tax Refunds Are Shaping up to Be Smaller This Year. Here’s Why.” HERE)

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