Average refunds dropped to $2,640 from $3,169 for the compared periods. The total dollar amount refunded became more significant as volume was up significantly from the period ended February 8. 

The IRS said it paid out just under $62 billion in refunds for this year to date, down 38.3 percent from $101.2 billion a year earlier. There were 23,485,000 refunds made this year, decline of 26.5 percent from 31,937,000. The amount of refunds for the period were more than double the 11,381,000 that had been issued as of February 8.

Otherwise, statistics continued to improve over 2018. There were 39,747,000 returns received so far in 2018, a 4.8-percent decline from 41,738,000. That was an improvement from a 6.9-percent drop as of the prior period.

The number of efiles received fell to 38,357,000 for the period ending February 15, a drop of 3.8 percent from 39,882,000 a year ago.

However, one statistic turned up. Self-prepared efiles received rose .1 percent to 21,774,000 from 21,756,000 in the corresponding period in 2018. Efiles processed by paid preparers were off 8.5 percent to 16,583,000 to 18,126,000. But that too was an improvement as the February 8 report showed the category down by 12.5 percent.