It’s One Big Beautiful refund.
Americans are rolling in the dough this tax season thanks to a bevy of new reforms passed by the Trump administration that have boosted returns by double digits.
More than 53 million taxpayers cashed in after taking advantage of new deductions included in President Trump’s signature “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” including tax-free tips and overtime, cheaper car loan interest and senior write-offs.
The tax breaks translated to a surge in refunds — as filers in 2026 took home, on average, $3,462, or 11.1% more than last year, IRS data shows.
The numbers are even more impressive when compared to the refunds under the Biden administration, up 24% against the four-year average before Trump took office, according to the Treasury Department.
Some of the biggest winners this year were service industry workers who reaped the benefits of Trump’s highly lauded “no tax on tips” policy.
“I was very happy because I didn’t think I was getting any money back,” Ingrid Mejia, a 53-year-old waitress at the Embassy Diner in Bethpage told The Post.
Mejia said she got about $4,000 from her refund, which is typically just $1,000.
“Now I can work more and more knowing I can get so much money back,” exclaimed Meija, who said the extra cash will go toward her daughter’s bridal shower.
Meija’s fellow servers Crystal Cody, Laura Trachenberg and Zoe Kalodimos also cashed in from Uncle Sam.
Cody told The Post she received a whopping $7,000 refund and plans to use most of it to cover her 9-year-old’s summer camp upfront after previously being stuck owning money and paying in back in installments.
Trachenberg said she finally received money back for the first time in years.
“It was really cool to see,” she said, adding that she’s putting a portion of her roughly $7,000 refund into her son’s business and saving the rest.
“I had three kids all in college and never really got anything back.”
Kalodimos, 30, scored a $2,000 refund and is using the money for a trip to Greece to visit family.
“In previous years, I actually owed money, so it was nice to get a little bit of it back,” she said. “I was actually anticipating owing money again,” Kalodimos said.
The no tax on tips reform, along with a related deduction for overtime, was a key worker-friendly provision of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” narrowly passed by Republicans last year with no Democratic support.
Treasury Department officials extended the federal tax break for nearly 70 jobs and professions — but the obvious beneficiaries were food and beverage service workers often dependent on tips.
Qualified service workers were able to deduct up to $12,500 of their tip income on their federal taxes, while hourly workers were offered the same for $12,500 of overtime pay.
A New Jersey couple working in the Big Apple told The Post they pocketed an extra $2,000 this year from the bill’s overtime perk – money they plan to funnel straight into their mortgage.
“Me and my husband do a lot of overtime, so with the Big Beautiful Bill’s overtime premium, we definitely saw an increase this year,” said Julia Mendez, a 31-year-old dental manager whose husband works at UPS.
“I’m not a Trump supporter, but he knows what he’s doing when it comes to business and money. When it comes to the economy, the Big Beautiful Bill, it definitely helped us.”
Bronx asbestos removal worker Tommy Merritt, 68, said his tax refund increased by 2% this year, with the extra cash earmarked for food and bills.
Two Midtown bartenders also saw a few extra thousand bucks added to their refunds, with one noting the grueling tax season “worked for the first time ever to my benefit.”
“All the bartenders are happy,” said Michele, who works at Peter Dillion’s Pub.
“I don’t know much about [the bill] but I am very happy with it. Let’s do it again next year!”
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said over 45% of taxpayers boosted their refunds through one of Trump’s four signature reforms, which also included a de facto end on taxes on Social Security benefits and deductions for interest on loans to buy domestic cars.
“I will tell you that the biggest one of those that Americans have taken is no tax on overtime,” Bessent told The Post during a Tax Day White House briefing Wednesday.
“It’s the American way: If you want to work longer hours, you get to keep more of your money.”
Tax rebate data, according to Bessent, showed that 53 million filers averaged $800 in additional refunds, 25 million claimed no tax on overtime, with an average deduction of $3,100, while 6 million claimed no tax on tips, with a $7,100 average deduction.
About 30 million seniors also benefited from enhanced Social Security deductions, averaging $7,500, while more than 1 million claimed deductions on domestic car loans for an average deduction of $1,800, according to data as of April 12.
The Treasury secretary urged OT-eligible workers to contact their work human resource officers to change their tax withholding status and reap the benefit immediately rather than in a lump sum during tax season.
“As much as people do not like to pay their taxes, and we saw a survey today, 70% of Americans still believe that they are overtaxed, this is a great day for the American people,” Bessent said.
“Thanks to promises made, promises kept … the president has delivered record refunds to the American people.”
