It's Tax Day. Here's how big the average tax refund is in 2026.
Americans are receiving larger tax refunds this year due to the 2025 "big, beautiful bill," which enacted new tax deductions.
Updated on: April 15, 2026 / 9:43 AM EDT / CBS News
As another Tax Day arrives, the average refund this year is $3,462, up 11%, or around $350, from 2025, according to IRS data .
"Aggregate refunds are up, average refunds are up, and clearly millions, if not tens of millions, of taxpayers are claiming one of the new deductions" under the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" enacted last year, Andrew Lautz, director of tax policy for the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank, told CBS News.
Deductions reduce a person's taxable income, which typically means they end up owing less to the IRS.
More than 53 million filers claimed one of the new deductions provided under the "big, beautiful bill," a Treasury official told reporters Tuesday. Roughly 6 million people claimed the "no tax on tips" break, 21 million claimed the overtime deduction and 30 million older Americans claimed the enhanced senior deduction.
According to a March survey of 1,200 taxpayers by the Bipartisan Policy Center, about a third of respondents said they received tipped income, overtime pay or both.