Americans can’t file their income taxes fast enough – but they should be prepared for some unwanted news in their 2020 refunds

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a person smiling in front of the camera: Americans really want to get any tax refunds owed or any stimulus checks they missed last year.


© Illustration photo MarketWatch / iStockphoto
Americans really want to get any tax refunds owed or any stimulus checks they missed last year.

It seems people can’t file their 2020 tax returns fast enough.

People are filing their taxes at a breakneck pace so far this year, underscoring how serious Americans are about getting any tax refunds owed or stimulus checks they’ve missed the year. last. The IRS began accepting and processing 2020 tax returns a little later than usual, as its systems needed a breather after distributing a second round of stimulus checks in late December.

However, there is bad news that many Americans should be prepared for when they finally get their refund: the average refund so far is $ 2,880, far less than the average refund of $ 3,125 at about the same. calendar date last year. The drop follows a year when unemployment skyrocketed due to COVID-19-related restrictions on businesses and shelter-in-place orders.

New IRS statistics released Thursday show people are filing their individual tax returns at a much faster rate than they were at the start of last year’s tax season. As of February 19, just eight full days in the 2021 filing season, the IRS had received 34.69 million individual returns, according to agency statistics.

That’s 30.5% less returns than the 49.8 million received on February 21 of last year – but that was 26 days after the 2020 deposit season started and weeks before confirmation that the coronavirus had settled in the United States.

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a person using a laptop sitting on a wooden table: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 2017 was probably not intended to discourage taxpayers from donating to charity, but the the way the law was structured, it is. The TCJA increased the standard deduction to $ 12,000 for singles and $ 24,000 for co-applicants, and those numbers have since risen to $ 12,400 and $ 24,800, respectively. These changes have reduced the number of taxpayers who itemize deductions. Since charitable contributions are an itemized deduction, many Americans were no longer encouraged to donate. In 2018, charitable contributions fell predictably, by around 1.7% when adjusting for inflation. Whoa: Breathtaking statistics on the state of retirement in America For the 2020 tax year, however, the IRS has implemented a few new changes that have likely encouraged additional charitable contributions. To begin with, the limit on charitable contributions, which is traditionally 60% of adjusted gross income, has been removed. This means that taxpayers could deduct 2020 charitable contributions up to 100% of their AGI. Additionally, the IRS has implemented a special tax deduction of $ 300 for single filers (or $ 600 for joint filers) that applies even to taxpayers who claim the standard deduction. Whatever your reasons for making charitable donations, there are ways to structure those donations in a way that maximizes your personal tax benefits. Here are some ways you can use the tax code to maximize your charitable efforts. Last updated: February 26, 2021

Simple calculations, in fact, suggest that the volume of individual declarations is on the rise this year.

Simple calculations suggest that the volume of individual returns is on the rise this year. –

Dividing the nearly 34.7 million returns so far this year by eight filing days, the result is 4.3 million returns filed per day. The 49.8 million returns filed last year, divided by 26 filing days, equals 1.91 million returns per day.

In other words: The IRS received about 21% more individual returns than the agency received last year on February 7, or 12 days after the start of the 2019 tax filing season. .

Right now, Americans face an April 15 deadline for filing and paying their taxes (June 15 in Texas and Okahoma), unless they receive an extension until October 15, which gives them more time to file their return, but not to pay the money they owe.

Refunds at the present time do not take into account refunds which include payments for the Working Income Tax Credit, a powerful anti-poverty tax credit aimed at low- and middle-income families. Refunds that incorporate the EITC and the Additional Child Tax Credit will start hitting bank accounts during the first week of March, according to the IRS.

It should be noted, however, that when comparing the average refunds in 2021 eight days after the start of this tax reporting season with the average refunds as of February 7, 12 days after last year’s production season , reimbursement amounts are in fact on the rise. Last year, the average refund was $ 1,952 after 12 days of the deposit season. So far this year, the average reimbursement value is $ 2,880. In each case, the average does not include EITC or ACCT funds.

After the Internal Revenue Service began accepting tax returns on Friday, Feb.12, the agency recorded 55 million returns in the first weekend alone, Charles Rettig, commissioner of the department’s office, said this week. of the Treasury. Those 55 million tax returns weren’t just individual tax returns. They also included trade returns and a variety of other returns, IRS spokesman Anthony Burke said.

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