Your tax refund will probably be smaller this year — unless you have a stock portfolio

If you’re feeling underwhelmed by the size of your income-tax refund this year, you’re probably not alone.

Before the start of the 2023 filing season, tax professionals and the Internal Revenue Service were cautioning U.S. taxpayers that many refunds would likely be smaller this year due to the expiration of a number of pandemic-related boosts to tax credits and deductions.

The filing deadline is Tuesday, April 18 — except for those who file for an extension — and the predictions about smaller refunds are coming into focus. The drop in refund amounts comes as particularly bad news at a time when historically high inflation is cooling only slowly.