Here is the average IRS tax refund per state

The sooner you repay your tax, the sooner you will see your refund in the bank (and this reduces the chance of tax fraud). The amount you receive – if any – depends on a number of factors, including how much of your income is not subject to tax, how many deductions and credits you claim, and how you filled out your W-4, which form you employer used to determine how much you withhold income tax payroll.

Even if you are an extension, you will want to submit it tax return before the April 15, 2021 tax deadline. And if you think you’re getting a refund, you’ll want to know what to expect and how to protect it.

Find out: What are the federal tax brackets and tax rates for 2020-2021?

What is the average tax refund?

For the 2020 submission season, which covers the returns for the 2019 calendar year, the average federal tax refund for individuals was $ 2,707.

The average tax refund also varies according to the state. In Maine, for example, the average payback was just over $2,314, but in Texas the average taxpayer has returned $ 3 191. But before you get jealous of those who live in Texas, remember tax refund received just means you made an interest-free loan to Uncle Sam, and the government is now paying you back for the extra amounts taken from your salary.

Here is a look at the average tax refund issued by the state for the 2019 financial year, listed from the highest average refund amount to the lowest:

In the past year, the IRS would issue the most tax refunds within 21 days; however, the agency takes longer to process all posted items due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Certain other things may delay the processing of your refund, including the following:

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• Incomplete returns

• Return with errors

• Proceeds Affected by Identity Theft or Fraud

• Proceeds with claims for the income tax credit or additional child tax credit

• Return with the award of the injured spouse’s form 8379, which may take up to 14 weeks to process

Within 24 hours after e-submission, or four weeks per submission, you can visit IRS website “Where is my refund” around the IRS repayment schedule and the status of your refund. Information on the website is updated daily, usually overnight.

What to do with your refund

In a 2019 GOBankingRates survey, 27 percent of respondents said they would use their tax refund to pay off debt. Once you get your refund, it can be tempting to treat you and spend it. But paying off or paying off debt is a smarter choice – if you pay off a credit card, for example, you can lower your credit utilization and increase your credit score.

Other financially sound options for your tax refund include the following:

• Fill in your emergency fund

• Contribution to a retirement plan

• Improving the value of your home by renovating homes

• Make charitable contributions that you can deduct from your next return

• Invest the money in stocks or CDs

• Invest in yourself with a fitness or certification program

Remember that you do not have to make an all-or-nothing choice with you repayment; you can hide most of it in investments or home improvements, for example, but still treat your family to an evening with a small portion of your repayment.

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George Malone and John Csiszar contributed to the reporting for this article.

Last updated: 9 February 2021

Methodology: To discover the average IRS tax refund per state, GOBankingRates uses the “SOI Tax Statistics – State Data FY 2019” (the latest available data) from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to find (1) individual income tax and work tax refunds. issued and (2) individual income tax and employment tax total refunds issued in USD. With these two figures isolated for all 50 countries, GOBankingRates had to split the two only to find (3) the average tax refund amount for each state. All data were kept up to date and updated on 11 January 2021.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: here is the average amount for tax refund per state