BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — It’s tax season and the deadlines to file your federal 2023 return and 2023 state individual income tax returns are coming up over the next two months.

“The deadline to file a 2023 tax return and pay any tax owed is Monday, April 15,” according to the Internal Revenue Service.

The last day that you can file your 2023 state individual income tax return is Wednesday, May 15.

With those dates not all that far away, LendingTree took a look at “where taxpayers got the biggest average refunds for tax year 2021.” The data used for this study became available in February of this year.

One of the findings was that the average refund for tax year 2021 went up by $519 compared to the year before. The average refund for tax year 2021 was $4,264, according to LendingTree. That number is a $613 increase from the average refund for tax year 2019.

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“COVID-19 turned everything upside down, and with all that upheaval came pandemic-era tax breaks that led to more people having bigger returns,” said LendingTree chief credit analyst Matt Schulz. “Also, it’s possible that high unemployment during that period led to people falling into lower tax brackets, changing their tax liability overall.”

Other factors could have been expanded child tax credits and student loan forgiveness, according to LendingTree.

The study also looked at which states got the biggest refunds in tax year 2021.

Louisiana came in tenth with an average refund of $4,617. Wyoming topped the list with an average refund of $5,914 and Maine came in last with an average refund of $3,144.

The study also looked at which states had the largest and smallest average bills for tax year 2021. Louisiana came in 28th with an average amount owed of $7,086. Wyoming topped this list too with the largest average owed of $10,551. Iowa came in last with the lowest average owed at $5,670.

Tax filers in the United States are relying more than ever on those refunds, according to LendingTree. They surveyed over 2,000 consumers and found that “of the 83% of Americans who plan to file federal income tax returns this year, 40% are relying on a refund.” That is a four percent increase from the year before.

“Stubborn inflation, rising interest rates and a host of other economic factors have conspired to make Americans’ financial margin for error very small,” said Schulz. “That can lead to people leaning more on their tax refunds than they otherwise might.”

The study showed that millennials “are the most likely to rely on a refund.” They came in at 53%, followed by Gen Zers at 41%, Gen Xers at 40% and Baby boomers at 21%.

Some of the other findings of the study are that men are more likely to rely on their refund than women and “those with children younger than 18 are significantly more likely to rely on a refund than those without children,” according to LendingTree.

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According to the study, tax filers are taking their refunds and applying them to debt. “44% of filers would pay off debt with a potential refund, while 43% would put that cash into a savings account,” LendingTree said. They said 15% would use the refund to help make a big purchase like a car or home.

“The best use for that money depends on your circumstances and goals, and there doesn’t have to be one way you use it,” said Schulz.

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