2018 Filing Season Statistics Cumulative statistics comparing 2/17/2017 and 2/16/2018 Calendar year-to-year comparisons are difficult at this early point in the season as six additional days of tax return processing are included in the 2017 totals. However, when comparing the same number of days of filing, IRS is seeing an increase in returns received and accepted over 2017. Individual Income Tax Returns: 2017 2018 % Change Total Returns Received 42,502,000 41,738,000 -1.8 Total Returns Processed 41,301,000 40,470,000 -2.0 E-filing Receipts: TOTAL 40,447,000 39,882,000 -1.4 Tax Professionals 18,941,000 18,126,000 -4.3 Self-prepared 21,506,000 21,756,000 1.2 Web Usage: Visits to IRS.gov 142,134,050 167,162,744 17.6 Total Refunds: Number 32,904,000 31,937,000 -2.9 Amount $103.237 Billion $101.212 Billion 2.0 Average refund $3,137 $3,169 1.0 Direct Deposit Refunds: Number 30,616,000 30,040,000 -1.9 Amount $99.170 Billion $97.819 Billion -1.4 Average refund $3,239 $3,256 0.5
