Nearly half of Americans are claiming tax benefits in the OBBB
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that 44% of tax returns, or 37.5 million Americans, have claimed benefits from one of the new tax policies in the One Big Beautiful Bill: no tax on tips, no tax on overtime pay, no tax on Social Security, or deductions for car loan interest.
Meanwhile, more than 6 million Americans have signed up for Trump accounts, the new tax-advantaged investment account for children, designed to set them up to invest early, Bessent said in a meeting of President Trump’s Cabinet.
As of March 25, more than 85.4 million people have filed taxes.
The average tax refund is up more than 10% over last year: $3,569.72, compared with an average of $3,233.17 in 2025.
Learn more: 4 ways the One Big Beautiful Bill Act could lower your taxes
The strong tax season has unfolded amid rising oil prices driven by the Iran war, raising questions about whether the conflict could hurt the US economy and consumer spending.
Bessent said that the economy “is well positioned to withstand these temporary disruptions.”
According to an analysis by Deutsche Bank, if oil were sustained at $100 per barrel, the projected tax benefits to consumers from the OBBB would still exceed the drag from the implied “energy tax” increase. But at $150 per barrel, the increase in energy costs would present a more serious threat to the outlook for consumer spending.
The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil has averaged $84.95 per barrel over the past month in the wake of the conflict, though it was trading around $95 a barrel Thursday. The peak price of crude during the Ukraine war in early 2022 was over 30% higher than today’s levels.
Bessent reiterated the administration’s efforts to pad the spike in oil prices and, in turn, gas prices, including issuing temporary sanction waivers on Iranian and Russian oil already in transit to stabilize the global oil market. Trump has also authorized the release of 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in concert with a larger, coordinated effort with International Energy Agency member nations to release a total of 400 million barrels globally.
Read more: What an extended war with Iran could mean for U.S. gas prices
The administration has also announced a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act, allowing foreign ships to transport oil, natural gas, and other fuels between US ports in an effort to boost supplies.
“The oil market is well supplied,” said Bessent. “We have taken actions to ensure oil supplies stranded at sea are made available to the global market.”
Jennifer Schonberger is a veteran financial journalist covering markets, the economy, and investing. At Yahoo Finance, she covers the Federal Reserve, Congress, the White House, the Treasury, the SEC, the economy, cryptocurrencies, and the intersection of Washington policy with finance. Follow her on X @Jenniferisms and on Instagram.
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