While the number of returns received and processed has been off modestly, the number of refunds issued has significantly declined from last year — by 26.5 percent as of Feb. 15, 2019.

Needless to say, many taxpayers were unhappy to receive a much smaller refund than usual, or no refund at all, or, worse yet, to discover that they owned money. While the IRS had been warning anyone who would listen about the need to update their withholding in response to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for a year, it seems many didn’t listen.