IRS Processing Returns as Fast as It Gets Them

Refund numbers up 20+ percent, but average amounts still down.

By Beth Bellor
CPA Trendlines Research

Has the Internal Revenue Service been bingeing NASCAR videos? The agency put the pedal to the metal in processing individual income tax returns, with an incredible current rate of 99.8 percent.

MORE: Only 39% of Tax Returns Filed by Pros | Tax Season Opens with Refunds Up 85%
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As of Feb. 17, the latest data available, the IRS had received 36.9 million individual income tax returns, up 2.6 percent from the same period in 2022, and processed 36.8 million of them, up 9.9 percent.