Average Irs And State Tax Refund And Processing Times

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A few examples are mailing a paper return, not choosing direct deposit, having errors on a return, missing documentation, and returns identified for additional review. For example, in Florida—which ranks 10th overall—the average refund was $2,897. Meanwhile, New Hampshire ranks No. 41 overall with an average refund of $2,527. It’s still money you’d rather spend on yourself than give to Uncle Sam, but overall, it might not be worth the cost of hiring a moving van. Home to the country’s largest city and many of its wealthiest residents, New York State accounts for a large chunk of IRS revenue – and refunds. According to the IRS, over $22 billion in refunds in 2014.

  • Receiving a tax refund just means you made an interest-free loan to Uncle Sam, and the government is now paying you back for the extra amounts that were taken out of your paycheck.
  • He still lends his economic and analytic expertise for SmartAsset’s studies.
  • It will either offset what you owe or add to your total refund.
  • Tanza is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and former correspondent for Personal Finance Insider.
  • The IRS says it received requests for 11 million extensions, which amounts to about 8% of all tax returns.
  • The average amount refunded was $2,810, enough to cover about two months of housing costs in California, where living expenses are generally higher than average.
  • The math would nonetheless be the same, so maybe fewer multimillionaires live there, or maybe their residents are just smarter about not using the IRS as an interest-free savings account.

The Internal Revenue Service does just that each year when taxpayers file their returns and wait to collect any refunds that are due to them. The average federal refund was $2,895 in 2017, the last year for which the Internal Revenue Service has released such data. The average taxpayer in the Sunshine State who overpaid on taxes received a tax refund of $3,333. More than 7.3 million taxpayers paid too much in taxes, and the IRS returned $24.4 billion back to Florida. That’s a good chunk of change Florida residents could put to work in retirement or brokerage accounts.

Data And Methodology

Some taxpayers receive significantly higher refunds after filing their returns, according to an analysis of IRS data done by LendingTree. In 2018, the latest available data, the average refund across the board was about $3,660, according to the study. No, the IRS isn’t wasting your tax dollars by paying employees to calculate these averages. What the agency does do, however, is provide the total amount of refunds per state and the number of refunds issued to the taxpayers who live there. Census Bureau, the median household income in Connecticut is $70,048, second highest in the U.S. behind Alaska.They said everything looked fine and was verified, so I guess I’m just waiting till they decide to send me my money. If you did not select the electronic deposit option, getting apaper checkmailed to you adds about a week. If your return was filed bymail, then your refund can take4 to6 weeksfrom the date the IRS receives a complete and accurate return. Once your return is accepted by the IRS, the IRS processes your refund based on the IRS E-file Refund Cycle Chart. Exact refund dates are based on IRS processing times and can be found in IRS Publication 2043 and IRS Topic 152 for both e-filed and mailed returns. Also note that for the current tax season the IRS has announcedthat there will likely be tax refund payment delays.

States With The Highest Average Tax Refund

We estimate that about 9.5 million tax-paying Texans received an average tax refund of $3,435. Massachusetts levies a flat income tax rate of 5.1% on its citizens. That means whether you are a high-earner or a low-earner, you can expect 5.1% of your income to go to the state government. The statewide sales tax is on the low side, which offers some respite to taxpayers stretched thin. IRS data reveals that, on average, the average taxpayer who overpaid on taxes received a tax refund equal to $3,477 in the Bay State. Who among us doesn’t want someone to come along and hand us a few thousand dollars every once in a while?I teach students and employees how to ace their personal finances. If you submitted your return electronically, please allow up to a week for your information to be entered into our system. The map below shows a breakdown by state with the biggest and smallest refunds. Beverly Bird has been a writer and editor for 30+ years, covering tax breaks, tax preparation, and tax law. She also worked as a paralegal in the areas of tax law, bankruptcy, and family law from 1996 to 2010. Beverly has written and edited hundreds of articles for finance and legal sites like GOBankingRates, PocketSense, LegalZoom, and more.

Tax Refunds May Be Bigger In 2020

Income taxes in California range from 1% to 13.3% based on your income. Sales taxes too are high, ranging from 7.35% to 10.25% depending on where you are purchasing your goods. The good news for taxpayers here is tax refunds are common and sizeable. More than 72% of taxpayers saw some kind of tax refund and, on average, received $3,439. In order to rank the states with the largest average tax refund, we examined data on two factors. Specifically, we looked at the total number of returns with overpayments and compared it to the total amount overpaid. Check out our data and methodology below to see where we got our data and how we put it together to create our final rankings.In 2014, some 7.4 million tax refunds were handed out to Floridians, worth an average of $2,844. New York is another state with a fairly progressive income tax rate.

Retirement Calculators

Why are we paying for them to show up and know nothing? Of course, some Americans might have larger than normal refunds this year. It will either offset what you owe or add to your total refund. At the state level, average tax refunds range from a low of $2,254 up to $3,125 .Refunds could get a boost this year because the government is paying interest on delayed refundsdue to the coronavirus. Tax refundsare just about the only exciting part of tax season for most Americans. Personal Finance Insider writes about products, strategies, and tips to help you make smart decisions with your money. We may receive a small commission from our partners, like American Express, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective. For a while, concerns about credit card fees and legacy processing infrastructure might have slowed government’s embrace of digital payment options. It’s important that Americans understand that refunds are not free money or a bonus at the end of the year but something they’re owed – it’s their money that they overpaid coming back to them.To find those numbers, and the average refund in every other state, SmartAsset looked at IRS data on the total number of refunds handed out in every state in 2014 and the total sum of refund dollars. We also compared the average refund in each state to the cost of housing in every state, to determine where that refund goes the furthest. Save your tax refund – It’s healthy to think of your tax refund as money the government has been saving for you. Once you receive your tax refund, if you simply invest it or place it in a high-yield saving account, you can painlessly increase your savings rate. Of course, this is not the best course of action if you have expensive short-term debt. If you have credit card debt, for instance, and receive a tax refund, the refund should go toward paying down that debt.

The Biggest And Smallest Federal Tax Refunds By State

Bankrate.com does not include all companies or all available products. Ideally, you want your tax bill to come out to $0, or very close to it. If you’re paying the IRS too little or too much throughout the year, adjust your W-4. Use the IRS tax withholding estimator to figure out how many exemptions to claim. At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions.

What is the average tax return in 2021?

How much is the average tax refund? The average refund amounted to $2,827 this year. In total, the organisation refunded $270 billion of money to 96 million people in the 2021 tax filing season. Around $807 billion in stimulus checks were also sent out in the same period.She broke down personal finance news and wrote about taxes, investing, retirement, wealth building, and debt management. She helmed a biweekly newsletter and a column answering reader questions about money. If you file your tax return electronically, your refund will typically be available within 21 days, though you might have to wait longer this year because of the pandemic. That also means that some people may elect to adjust their withholding so that more of their earnings go to them instead of the federal government.In 2020, nearly 170 million people filed tax returns, and the IRS issued about 126 million refunds, accounting for about 74% of all filers. The IRS publishes filing season statistics each week that compare cumulative current year statistics with the year before. In the latest bulletin, it shows data for the week ending April 23, 2021 and compares it to the week ending April 24, 2020. The recent data shows that the agency has received over 116 million returns and has processed 105 million of them.

How Tax Refunds Work

Many Americans eagerly await their yearly tax refunds as a one-time cash infusion. While it may be tempting to spend the entire refund on conspicuous consumption, the yearly refund could be an opportunity for individuals to improve their financial security. This could include paying down high-interest debt, like credit cards.It will match you with up to three local financial advisors who fit your needs. Click here to see the states with the largest average tax refund. Federal taxes are, of course, far from the only taxation Americans face.Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.

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Published by Dick Rice on December 2, 2021 See all author posts