US tax filings are due on April 15, 2026, with refunds typically issued within weeks of submission.
Photo : AP
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday said that Americans should expect to receive an additional $1,000 in their tax refunds next year, following the implementation of President Donald Trump’s recent tax legislation.
Speaking at a press briefing, Leavitt said the anticipated increase would give households “another boost in their bank accounts in the months ahead”. She said that tax refunds for 2026 were “projected to be the largest ever thanks to President [Donald] Trump’s passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill”.
Trump signed the legislation, formally known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, in July. The White House has described the measure as central to the administration’s focus on economic policy, alongside immigration.
Leavitt cited analysis from investment bank Piper Sandler, saying tax refunds “could be about one-third larger than usual, or roughly an extra $1,000 per filer”. She added that “it is only because of President Trump and Republican leadership that Americans will now pay no tax on tips, overtime, and Social Security”.
Her comments came a day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that working Americans would receive “very large refunds” next year, estimating they would total about $1,000 to $2,000 per household. He attributed the projected increases to tax cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The White House, in a post on X on 4 December, described the forthcoming refund cycle as the “largest tax refund season in American history”, crediting “extended tax cuts and retroactive tax relief provided by the Working Family Tax Cuts”.
Democrats have continued to criticise the administration over rising living costs. Colorado Governor Jared Polis said in an X post on Thursday that while his state had cut income taxes three times, “unlike these measures in Trump’s law, those cuts are permanent”. He said Colorado was “delivering real relief through the most generous child tax credit in the nation”, and urged federal officials to focus on “lowering interest rates, costs and bringing down the price of goods ahead of Christmas by eliminating these draconian tariffs”.
Representative Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania argued in a December 9 post that Trump’s claims of reducing costs were “empty promises”, saying the president was “raising prices with his tariff taxes and taking health care from Americans”.