Economics
Tax Refund Data Puts Mnuchin in Hot Seat to Explain GOP Law
- Number of refunds issued down nearly 16 percent so far in 2019
- Average amount of each check also lower this filing season
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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin faces an uphill battle convincing Americans that smaller tax refunds don’t necessarily mean they paid more taxes for the whole year.
The number of tax refunds issued so far this year -- in the first tax filings since the 2017 tax overhaul was enacted -- fell nearly 16 percent to 11.4 million, compared with 13.5 million at the same point in the filing season last year, according to published on Thursday. Even among those who did get refunds, the average amount dropped to $1,949, compared with $2,135 in 2018.