Technologies
IRS Has Issued Over $211 Billion in Tax Refunds, With 2025’s Filing Season Ending Today
With today’s federal income tax deadline, the IRS surpasses numbers from 2024.
The 2025 tax season has been underway since late January, and for many tax payers, the filing season officially wraps up today (unless you’ve filed an extension or the IRS issued you more time to file due to local natural disasters). That means more than 100 million taxpayers have already filed their tax return and have already received their refund money or are patiently tracking their tax refunds.
Last Friday, the IRS said it has received over 101 million tax returns and issued more than 67 million tax refunds. Through the final week of the 2024 tax season, the average refund amount had risen by approximately 3.5% compared to 2023’s season.
TAX SOFTWARE DEALS OF THE WEEK
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Read on for a breakdown of how the IRS has been performing up to Tax Day.
For more tax tips, check out our essential tax filing cheat sheet and how to track your refund from the IRS into your bank account. Check out our pick for the best tax software of 2025.
How many tax returns has the IRS processed so far in 2025?
On Friday, the IRS released statistics comparing its progress through the 10th week of tax season 2024 (ending April 5, 2024) with its progress through the 10th week of 2025 (ending April 4, 2025). So far this year, the IRS has processed 100.3 million federal income tax returns, up 0.2% from the 100.1 million returns it had processed by the same time last year.
The IRS has received more than 101.4 million tax returns total so far, compared with 101.8 million last year, marking a 0.4% decrease.
The agency also breaks down how returns have been filed, with 98.1 million returns received electronically (53.3 million filed by tax professionals and 44.7 million self-prepared).
How many tax refunds has the IRS issued in 2025?
The IRS has issued 67.7 million refunds, a 1.4% increase from the approximate 66.8 million sent out at this point in 2024.
The average tax refund amount so far is $3,116, up 3.5% from last year’s average of $3,011 at this time last year.
How do 2025’s tax refunds compare to 2024’s so far?
So far, the IRS has issued more than $211 billion in tax refunds, a 5% increase from the $201 billion in tax refunds it had issued by this time in 2024.
The IRS noted that large percentage differences in filing statistics are typical for the beginning of each tax season. It accurately predicted that the numbers would even out as more people gathered important tax documents and filed before today’s Tax Day deadline.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Dec. 27
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Dec. 27.
Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s pretty long for a Mini Crossword, and some of the clues are tricky. The answer to 10-Across is not an expression I use, for sure. Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword
Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.
Mini across clues and answers
1A clue: Fashionable
Answer: HIP
4A clue: Product sold on «The Office»
Answer: PAPER
6A clue: One writing a performance review
Answer: MANAGER
8A clue: With 5-Down, redundant synonym of «outcome»
Answer: END
9A clue: Quiet ___ mouse
Answer: ASA
10A clue: Gives constant compliments, in slang
Answer: GASESUP
12A clue: Ski mountain bump
Answer: MOGUL
13A clue: Uneasy feeling
Answer: ANGST
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Personally involved
Answer: HANDSON
2D clue: Hoppy beer, for short
Answer: IPA
3D clue: Mythical horse whose name is an anagram of 10-Across
Answer: PEGASUS
4D clue: Last word in the palindromic sentence «A man, a plan, a canal …»
Answer: PANAMA
5D clue: See 8-Across
Answer: RESULT
6D clue: Ryan of «When Harry Met Sally …»
Answer: MEG
7D clue: Genre for Playboi Carti and Cardi B
Answer: RAP
11D clue: Something in an Easter basket
Answer: EGG
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Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Dec. 27, #460
Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Dec. 27, No. 460.
Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a real challenge. That purple category wants you to hunt out something related in four different words, and it’s a toughie. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.
Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta
Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Something you save.
Green group hint: An Olympic sport.
Blue group hint: Toronto pitchers.
Purple group hint: Think about the alphabet and look for something hidden.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Memento.
Green group: Types of wrestling.
Blue group: Blue Jays to win Cy Young Award.
Purple group: Ends in a homophone for a letter of the alphabet.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is memento. The four answers are collectible, keepsake, memorabilia and souvenir.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is types of wrestling. The four answers are arm, freestyle, Greco-Roman and sumo.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is Blue Jays to win Cy Young Award. The four answers are Clemens, Halladay, Hentgen and Ray.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is ends in a homophone for a letter of the alphabet. The four answers are batter’s eye (I), blue jay (J), golf tee (T) and pool cue (Q).
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
Technologies
Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Dec. 27, #1,652
Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Dec. 27, No. 1,652.
Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Wordle puzzle came together pretty quickly for me this time. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.
Read more: New Study Reveals Wordle’s Top 10 Toughest Words of 2025
Today’s Wordle hints
Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.
Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats
Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.
Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels
Today’s Wordle answer has one vowel.
Wordle hint No. 3: First letter
Today’s Wordle answer begins with B.
Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter
Today’s Wordle answer ends with H.
Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning
Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a quantity of goods produced at one time.
TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER
Today’s Wordle answer is BATCH.
Yesterday’s Wordle answer
Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Dec. 26, No. 1651 was SPEED.
Recent Wordle answers
Dec. 22, No. 1647: CONCH
Dec. 23, No. 1648: GLINT
Dec. 24, No. 1649: SPOOL
Dec. 25, No. 1650: PRISM
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