The 2023 tax season is here, and with it will most likely be a smaller tax refund for most taxpayers compared to what they received in previous years.
The deadline for taxpayers to file their 2022 taxes has been set for April 18 this year, with the IRS accepting tax returns beginning Monday. However, the amount of money they will receive from this year’s refund may not be as large as in previous years, according to NPR.
“People should absolutely expect smaller tax refunds this year,” financial expert Lynnette Khalfani-Cox told the outlet. “And frankly, some people might even owe the government money.”
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Part of the reason tax refunds will not be as bountiful this year will be from the lack of a recovery rebate, which was given to taxpayers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Taxpayers received $1,400 per person when filing their 2021 taxes, which is no longer available when filing one’s 2022 taxes, Khalfani-Cox explained.
An additional change made to filing taxes this year is with the child tax credit, which granted families either $3,000 in credits for children under 18 or $3,600 in credits for children under 6. This credit has now reverted to its original amount of $2,000 per child.
Another deduction not extended for this year’s tax season was for charitable deductions, which provided a “$300 deduction for people who don’t itemize” their charitable donations and “a $600 deduction for married couples,” Khalfani-Cox said. Generally, people can only deduct donations to charity when filing their taxes if they itemize these deductions.
Khalfani-Cox’s warning about decreased tax refunds for 2023 echoes previous statements that others have made, including Mark Steber, the chief tax information officer at Jackson Hewitt. Steber recommends not taking 2022’s refund as an expectation of what to receive this year, as “you’re probably going to have not as pleasant an experience as you had last year.”
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Some steps that tax filers can take in order to receive their refund as soon as possible include filing tax returns electronically, asking to receive one’s returns via direct deposit, and double-checking one’s personal information.
