Here's what to know if you haven't filed your tax return yet

The tax season clock is ticking down, with six weeks remaining before the April 18 federal deadline and millions of taxpayers who have yet to send in their annual returns to the IRS. The early returns filed so far with the IRS are providing some insight into what to expect this year, from processing time to the size of your refund.

This year, the IRS expects about 168 million households or individuals to file taxes, according to the most recent data available. That means about 7 in 10 taxpayers will flood the IRS with their returns in the next several weeks.

For those who have yet to file, here's what to know, based on IRS data and advice from tax experts.

Your refund is likely to be 10% smaller

Tax experts and even the IRS had warned prior to tax season that refunds were likely to be smaller this year, due to the expiration of pandemic benefits like stimulus checks and the expanded Child Tax Credit.

Now that the IRS has several weeks of data under its belt — this year's tax filing kicked off on January 23 — the receipts are in: Tax refunds are down 10% on average this year.

The typical tax refund is about $3,170 so far in 2023, down from $3,529 at the same time last year, according to IRS data.

Faster returns this year

The pandemic-related delays during the past three tax seasons caused millions of tax returns to get stuck in IRS limbo, delaying refunds and creating financial stress for many taxpayers.

But the IRS is processing returns faster this year, according to its own data and tax experts.

The tax agency has received about 46 million tax returns through February 24, the most recent data available.an increase of 1.3% from last year, and has processed 45.7 million of them — a boost of 4.3% from a year earlier. The IRS has invested in hiring new agents and customer service reps, which is easing some of the problems experienced in prior years, experts say.

"The response time has been better, customer service time has been better," said Keith Hall, a CPA and CEO of the National Association for the Self-Employed, an organization for small business owners. "So far, the IRS has dramatically improved the service side of what they do."