Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Internal Revenue Service issued slightly fewer, but slightly larger, refunds last tax season, but saw a more than 1% jump in the total number of returns received and processed.
The agency said that through Oct. 17, it has issued 102,122,000 refunds, compared to 103,185,000 for the 2024 season. The average 2025 refund was $3,052, up 1.6% over 2024. There were 93,196,000 direct deposit refunds, down slightly from 2024 figures.
(The IRS phased out use of paper refund checks last month.)
The agency said that it has received 163,594,000 2025 returns, a 1.3% increase over the 161,489,000 returns for 2024. It has processed 163,024,000 returns in 2025, a 1.1% jump over the 161,260,000 returns it had processed this time last year.
In other 2025 filing season numbers:
The IRS received 161,260,000 e-filed returns, a 1.8% jump over 2024. Tax pros e-filed 86,758,000 of those, a 2.3% year-over-year increase.Visits to IRS.gov were up slightly, at 868,140,000. Return/Refund category
2024
null
2025
% change
Total returns received 161,489,000 163,594,000 1.3 Total returns processed 161,260,000 163,024,000 1.1 Total e-filing returns received 150,811,000 153,597,000 1.8 E-filing returns from tax pros 84,780,000 86,758,000 2.3 E-filing returns, self-prepared 66,031,000 66,839,000 1.2 Web usage, IRS.gov visits 865,363,000 868,140,000 0.3 Total number of refunds 103,185,000 102,122,000 -1 Total amount refunded $309.929 billion $311.651 billion 0.6 Average refund amount $3,004 $3,052 1.6 Total number of direct deposit refunds 93,506,000 93,196,000 -0.3
