Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been telling television viewers that the “average tax refund” is up 22 percent, a headline-friendly figure that grabbed attention in a CNBC appearance. The IRS’s own early-season dataset tells a more modest story so far, with the average refund up 10.9 percent as of February 6, 2026, to $2,290 and…
The tax bill that Republicans pushed through the House arrived with a simple promise: bigger refunds and new Trump-branded savings accounts for families, starting in 2026. Treasury officials have talked up “bigger refunds in 2026” and a flagship “Trump Accounts” program as proof that working parents will come out ahead. Buried fine print in the…
Average IRS refunds are running lower so far this filing season, and the drop is catching many households off guard. The smaller checks reflect a mix of new law changes and paycheck withholding tweaks that are hitting some groups harder than others. The people most likely to see their refund shrink are those whose withholding…
Americans are receiving tax refunds averaging $2,290 this filing season—a 10.9% jump from last year’s $2,065—even as total household debt has climbed to a staggering $18.8 trillion. This financial paradox raises fundamental questions about whether these larger refunds offer meaningful relief or merely temporary respite from mounting debt burdens, particularly as delinquency rates climb and…
Picture a nurse in Texas sending part of every paycheck to parents in Mexico, or a student in New York helping family in the Philippines. Starting in 2026, a new 1 percent federal tax on many cash-funded remittances will skim money off those transfers before they ever leave the United States. That change will matter…
The grocery bill in Washington keeps climbing, gas prices jump between paychecks, and rent hikes arrive like clockwork, yet paychecks rarely stretch far enough. Politicians label it an “affordability crisis,” but the numbers show something more specific: a tax crisis that leans hardest on people with the least. According to a 50-state analysis by the…
The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that a new senior bonus deduction will deliver $93 billion in additional tax relief for seniors over the next four years, offering eligible filers a chance to reduce their 2025 tax bills significantly. This $6,000 deduction per qualifying individual became law when President Biden signed Public Law 119-21 on…
Dr. Amy Acton is stepping into Ohio’s 2026 governor’s race with a message that centers on economic pressure at the kitchen table and a call for faster action on property taxes. She is best known for helping lead Ohio’s early response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and she is now applying that crisis-era framing to the…
The Internal Revenue Service warns that two of the most valuable tax breaks for working families can also be the ones most likely to slow a refund. When taxpayers claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), strict timing rules and identity checks can hold up money for weeks….
For workers counting on a year-end windfall, how the IRS treats a bonus can matter as much as the size of the check. The tax rules for 2025 and 2026 hinge on whether that bonus is handled as “supplemental wages” with a flat rate or folded into regular pay, and withholding on a bonus often…