Even among those who did getrefunds, Treasury data shows the average amount dropped to$1,949, compared with $2,135 in 2018. (Photo: Bloomberg)

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin faces an uphill battleconvincing Americans that smaller tax refunds don't necessarilymean they paid more taxes for the whole year.

The number of tax refunds issued so far this year — the firsttax filings since the 2017 tax law was enacted — fell nearly 16percent to 11.4 million, compared with 13.5 million at the samepoint in the tax filing season last year, according to Treasurydata published on Thursday. Even among those who did get refunds,the average amount dropped to $1,949, compared with $2,135 in2018.

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