WASHINGTON (AP) —
It's Tax Day on Wednesday, the deadline for most Americans to file taxes, and the Trump administration says millions of people have already used new breaks such as no tax on tips and overtime, exemptions for interest on certain car loans, deductions for some seniors, and Trump Accounts for children’s savings.
More than 53 million filers claimed a deduction under one of those provisions from Republicans' massive tax and spending law,
a Treasury official told reporters Tuesday before the deadline, with 6 million people claiming no tax on tips, 21 million claiming the overtime deduction and 30 million older Americans claiming the enhanced deduction.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the numbers, said the 2026 filing season was a success from the administration's perspective.
Still, the latest data comes as most Americans, or 7 in 10, still think their taxes are too high, according to recent polling, despite the passage of the Republican tax law which promised big savings for taxpayers.
As the tax season kicked off in January, the White House boasted that average refunds were projected to rise by at least $1,000. But currently, the average refund amount is $3,462, according to the latest IRS data, which is up 11% or about $350 from last tax year’s $3,116 average refund payment.
In an interview that aired on Wednesday, President Donald Trump claimed much bigger results. “People are getting refunds of $5,000, $8,000, $11,000 that they had no idea they were getting,” he told Fox Business News. “It’s turned out to be better -- as good or better than I said it would be.”
Treasury says tax refunds this season are up 24% compared with the four-year average of refunds before Trump took office.
The White House has been trying to promote Trump's tax cuts as a way to get voters more enthusiastic about the way he's handling the economy before November's midterm elections, but the message has been overshadowed for weeks by higher gas prices caused by the war in Iran.
Republicans on Capitol Hill took advantage of Tax Day to focus on the tax breaks.
“Lower taxes, bigger refunds and more money in the pockets of hardworking Americans,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said on the Capitol steps, flanked by Republican lawmakers and Americans he said are benefitting, including a restaurant server, a farmer, and small business owners.
“We don’t believe you should send it all here to Uncle Sam,” Johnson said. “We want you to keep it.”
But Democrats said Americans are reeling from inflation and the high cost of living as Trump focuses his attention on the Iran war. “Hardworking families are watching as the Trump administration spends billions to bomb Iran, yet they can’t seem to find any funding for health care, housing or food for hungry children,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, the Democratic caucus chairman.
The 2026 season comes as the IRS has gone through a leadership turnover and reduced its workforce by 27% over the past year through cuts brought on by the Department of Government Efficiency.
IRS CEO Frank Bisignano testified to the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, extolling the IRS' implementation of the Republican tax law.
However, Democratic lawmakers have been zeroing in on IRS disclosures of confidential taxpayer information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of an agreement between ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to share information for the purpose of identifying and deporting people illegally in the U.S.
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AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed.
