Updated March 22, 2026, 10:29 a.m. ET
Nearly half of American taxpayers are counting on an IRS refund to assist them pay the payments or get out of debt, a brand new survey finds.
This is an efficient 12 months for refunds. The IRS has returned $161 billion to particular person taxpayers by means of March 6. That’s 11% greater than the company refunded by means of the identical week in 2025. The common refund is $3,676, additionally up from final 12 months.
Refunds are larger this 12 months, and taxes decrease, due to President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, based on an analysis from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.
Many Americans will rely their tax refund as the most important single examine they deposit in 2026.
“People just don’t get big checks in the mail all that often,” stated Matt Schulz, chief client finance analyst at LendingTree.
And, judging by a March 16 LendingTree survey, many people have already spent the cash a number of instances over in our minds.
Of greater than 1,500 tax filers surveyed, 46% stated they are relying on getting a refund in 2026. In three prior surveys, smaller shares of taxpayers stated they had been counting on cash from the IRS.
Taxpayers are counting on IRS refunds in a shaky economic system
Refunds are coming at a precarious second for American customers. The stock market is down. Gas costs are way up. The job market seems to be tightening.
“It’s just the reality of 2026 that a lot of people need a little bit of help to make ends meet,” Schulz stated.
But some Americans could also be overly optimistic about their probabilities of getting a refund. In the LendingTree survey, performed in early February, almost 9 in 10 filers stated they count on to get one. The survey performed out earlier than most taxpayers had filed returns.
In reality, fewer than two-thirds of taxpayers reap refunds, based on IRS data for 2025.
Just a few particular demographic teams appear to be banking on refunds greater than others:
- 63% of oldsters with kids below age 18 are relying on a refund, in contrast with 32% of oldsters with grownup kids.
- 58% of millennials are counting on a refund, however solely 45% of Gen Xers.
- 48% of males are relying on a refund, in contrast with 44% of girls.
Roughly two in three taxpayers stated a tax refund is essential to their “overall financial situation,” the survey discovered. One in three stated they are relying on it.
Here’s how taxpayers plan to spend their refunds
Rising costs have been a relentless theme for customers over the previous 5 years. No shock, then, that many taxpayers plan to make use of any tax refund to pay on a regular basis bills. Here’s a Top 10 listing of how individuals plan to spend their checks:
- Pay for on a regular basis bills (34%)
- Pay off debt (34%)
- Put it in a financial savings account/emergency fund (32%)
- Save it for an enormous buy (19%)
- “Buy something I’ve wanted” (18%)
- Put it in retirement financial savings (15%)
- Help assist members of the family (13%)
- Take a trip (13%)
- Invest in shares (11%)
- Donate to charity (8%)
Where’s my refund?
If you are anticipating a refund, you possibly can observe its progress on the Where’s my refund? page on the IRS web site. Your refund standing needs to be out there 24 hours after you have filed a 2025 return electronically, the tax company says. If you file a paper return, wait 4 weeks.
Your refund will take longer to reach in the event you file a paper return. The typical wait, based on the IRS, is three weeks after you e-file, six weeks (or extra) after the company receives a return in the mail.
One extra tip: You’ll get your refund rather a lot sooner in the event you receive it by direct deposit.
