Show the statistics of the tax registration season,

IRS data from the third week of the tax registration season – the week until February 14, 2025 – must indicate that taxpayers are not enthusiastic about submitting this tax season. The submission statistics are reduced in each category – from submitting the processing to processing to tax refund.

Early submission data reflect a continued downturn in tax returns compared to the previous year. The DIP is 4.9% compared to the previous year (and 10% compared to the same registration period in 2023).

The IRS still appears untouched and claims on its website that “(h) isorically, the season numbers are even submitted if more tax returns are received” and determine that “the IRS expects registration. “

I am still not convinced that the slowdown is only a seasonal check mark. Why? The IRS is currently without a constant commissioner (and the incumbent commissioner has not published a message to taxpayers). A Trump management that sets freezing the tax authority has started, with existing job offers being lifted. And after President Trump proposed to relieve some current IRS employees or to lay those who were authorized to bring weapons down to the border to enforce immigration.

And this week over 6,000 IRS employees were released, which meant that some taxpayers asked whether the IRS was open to business at all (it is). In response to the news, a user posted on social media: “And that’s why I haven’t submitted my taxes yet.”

In addition, the taxpayers have expressed concerns about the privacy of their financial data after reports that the Department of Government of Government of Government (Doge) received access to sensitive financial data in the treasury department. (Last week, lawyers from the Ministry of Justice agreed with an proposed order that would temporarily contain this access, a step that follows a lawsuit and protests against Doges.)

This week, Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) raised the eyebrows when it applied for sensitive tax payer data during IRS. According to various reports, Doge aims to access the integrated data call system (IDRS). You can imagine the IDRS as a regular file that contains tax returns and other taxpayer information, including bank documents.

The changes make taxpayers nervous – and that could explain why the registration numbers remain sluggish in 2025. In 2025, the IRS received 33,040,000 individual income tax returns compared to 34,743,000 in 2024. As mentioned, there is a decline of around 4.9%.

(About 59% of these returns were prepared themselves, which is not unusual, to see at the beginning of the tax season.)

Most of these returns were E-Filt. In 2025, the IRS achieved 32,400,000 e-filmed returns compared to 34,071,000 in 2024. This is a decrease of 4.9%.

The data show that the IRS processed 32,820,000 individual income tax returns from February 14, 2025, compared to 34,546,000 by February 16, 2024. This is a decrease of 5.0%.

The web visits to IRS.GOV had also dropped greatly and fell incredible 46.3%compared to 2024. From February 14, 2025, 124,289,000 visits on the website were, compared to 231,436,000, until February 16, 2024.

The downturn in web visits can reflect the fact that the website has not been updated regularly – since the season was opened, only six press releases have been published, and only one update since last week. I assume that this trend will continue for a few reasons, including that media and communication staff have been included in the recent round of burners, and sources have pointed out that communication is only shared when it deleted at the top became (Ministry of Finance). The latter is a significant change compared to previous practices.

The average reimbursements have also decreased – this is a change compared to the past two weeks. So far, the IRS has issued 13,657,000 tax returns in 2025, compared to 20,883,000 in 2024, a decline of 34.6%.

The average tax refund has also decreased: $ 2,169 per taxpayer from February 14, 2025, compared to USD 3,207 from February 16, 2024, a decrease of 32.4%. The average reimbursement, which was issued by direct deposit, lower in 2025: $ 2,252 (compared to USD 3,265 in 2024).

The IRS issued a disclaimer for reimbursement data and explained: “Please note that the reimbursement numbers for the week ending on February 16, 2024 contain the refund of the Scout Act (EITC/ACTC). While the reimbursement numbers for the week until February 14, 2025, not. Due to the message of limit value data, the reimbursements of the 2025 Path Act should be reflected in the statistics of the registration season in the next week. “

They relate to the fact that the law is prescribed by the IRS that reimbursements are bound by the EID income tax credit (EITC) and the ACTC by mid-February. The rule applies to the entire reimbursement, even the part that is not connected to the EITC and ACTC. This means that if you qualify for the reimbursable credit, you have to wait for the IRS to publish you – these checks should go out next week. If you are an early EITC/ACTC filer, you should see the tax reimbursements by March 3 – some taxpayers could see your reimbursements a few days earlier. This estimate is based on processing times and enables the President’s day, which is a federal and bank vacation.

Especially in 2020 (the last registration season with one week that ended on February 14) also took the tax reimbursement figures, but the total registration figures were almost flush in the previous week and only dived -0.3%.

It is still an unpredictable season. Take a look over the course of the season Forbes continues to pursue these IRS numbers.

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