States With The Highest Average Tax Refunds

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Giulia Carbonaro

By Giulia Carbonaro

Senior Reporter

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With the deadline for American taxpayers to file their federal income tax return this year less than a month away, Wyoming residents can look forward to once again receiving the largest tax refunds in the country, according to estimates by online loan marketplace LendingTree.

For the tax year 2022, the latest full-year data made available by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and analyzed by the company, Wyoming taxpayers received the largest refund for the fifth year in a row, at an average of $6,367. Next came Florida with $5,934 and the District of Columbia with $5,848.

These same states have been topping the list of those receiving the largest tax refunds in the country for years now, and their dominance is expected to continue this year.

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Why It Matters

The IRS expects more than 140 million Americans to file their individual tax returns for the tax year 2024 ahead of the April 15 federal deadline. Most refunds, according to the tax-collecting agencies, will be issued in less than 21 days, though those needing reviews may take longer.

Budget cuts and mass layoffs at the IRS recommended by the advisory Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been tapped by the Trump administration to shrink the size of the federal government, have raised concerns of delays in issuing tax refunds.

According to LendingTree, 75 percent of Americans plan to file a federal tax return this year—and 42 percent of them are financially relying on their refund. That's up from 40 percent last year. The share of those relying on their tax refunds went up to 54 percent among parents with children younger than 18, 49 percent among millennials aged 29 to 44, and 48 percent among those earning less than $30,000.

What To Know

For the tax year 2022, the average tax refund at the national level was $4,381, slightly higher than the average for the 2021 tax year at $4,264 and the highest in five years.

The average tax refund has been growing steadily since the tax year 2018, going up from $3,660 to $3,651 in tax year 2019, $3,745 in tax year 2020, and $4,264 in tax year 2021, before peaking in tax year 2022.

These are the ten states that got the biggest tax refunds for that same year:

These are the ten states that got the smallest tax refunds for the tax year 2022:

What People Are Saying

LendingTree chief consumer finance analyst Matt Schulz said in a statement accompanying the report: "You don't want a big refund. If you're getting a refund, you've essentially given the U.S. government an interest-free loan for the past year. Instead, try to adjust your withholdings so you'll neither get a refund nor have to pay with next year's tax return.

"That way, you'll be keeping more of your own money, which you can invest or put into a high-yield savings account instead of letting it earn money for the government."

What's Next

The IRS is planning to cut nearly 20 percent of its workforce by May 15, only a month after the tax return deadline. While there are concerns over tax refunds being delayed by the uncertainty enveloping the agency, LendingTree said that taxpayers are likely to get bigger-than-expected refunds.

Twenty-eight percent of American tax filers think their refund will be less than $500, the company found, while just 4 percent think they will receive the $4,000 to $4,999 taxpayers got in 2022.

States With The Highest Average Tax Refunds

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