Much like Saint Peter’s remarkable run in the NCAA basketball tournament, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is having its own Cinderella story moment.

Prior to the beginning of tax season in late January, the beleaguered agency was already weighed down by tens of millions of unprocessed personal tax returns and correspondence. And with new returns coming in daily, most experts believed that this tax season would be an all-out disaster.

With tax day about a month away, however, it appears that the IRS has already made major progress.

Per the agency’s most recent data release, the IRS has issued more than forty-five million tax refunds worth close to $152 billion in total. Broken down, the average refund payment comes in at $3,352, which is a rather impressive $400 higher than last year’s amount.

The agency has received a total of about 63.5 million tax returns and has processed nearly 62 million of them.

“No Unexpected Problems”

That’s a clear win, even for the most skeptical out there.

“The good news is for the current tax filings, there’s been no unexpected problems at this point,” National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins told Yahoo Money.

“Electronic returns are being processed timely and refunds are getting out the door. The biggest challenge the IRS faces is paper,” she continued.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is the average refund, which is up a hefty 13 percent compared to last year.

“Many are getting higher refunds this year with tax credits for dependents in college through the higher education tax credit, child and dependent care credits for working spouses, stimulus payments not yet received but entitled to under the recovery rebate credit, and credits for electric vehicle purchases,” Dwight Nakata, CPA, CFP at Yamada & Nakata CPAs, told Yahoo Money.

Backlog’s Impact on Taxpayers

Still, the IRS is dealing with previous years’ tax returns, which could impact taxpayers this year. Those who haven’t had returns from last year processed should enter $0 for the 2020 AGI on their 2021 return to avoid rejection when filing electronically. And for those who used a non-filer tool to receive child tax credit money, they should enter $1 for the 2020 AGI.

“Not enough people know that that is a work-around if your return hasn’t been processed yet,” Collins said.

“What we’re seeing with a lot of taxpayers is that if their prior tax return wasn’t processed, their new returns are getting rejected. Since they are not able to electronically file it, taxpayers get discouraged and put their return in the mail,” she continued, adding that mailing a paper return should be avoided at all costs.

“Please do everything possible, especially if you have a refund situation, to file electronically. It’s a difference of a two or three-week payment compared to 10 months or longer,” she concluded.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Washington state-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

Image: Reuters.