SubPrime Auto Finance News reached out to Manheim chief economist Tom Webb because he went on Twitter Monday morning and said, “Tax stats not looking good.”

You probably don’t need Webb’s economic knowledge to recognize that a tax refund cash flow reading that went from a year-over-year increase of 117.7 percent down to just 2.5 percent in the span of a single week is a trend worth noting.

The first tax refund update Internal Revenue Service showed the total amount of cash going back to consumers as of Jan. 30 came in at $26.882 billion, a whopping 117.7 percent higher than the same date a year earlier.

But then a week later as of Feb. 6, the IRS report indicated the total refund amount stood at $66.139 billion, just 2.5 percent higher than the same date in 2014.

Webb indicated the IRS information is becoming available sooner and more regularly since there wasn’t a delay in processing returns this year. The flow of cash back to consumers — oftentimes the funds that can be turned into down payments on vehicle purchases or special payments some finance companies arrange — isn’t what the Manheim economist expected.

“I would say that’s somewhat disappointing,” Webb said. “You never know exactly how these numbers are flowing, but it went down a lot faster than I would have thought. I thought we would still be showing very big gains because you have about 10 days you’re making up.”

As of the latest update, the IRS reported that it processed 27.517 million returns, a 1-percent uptick from a year earlier. The agency also indicated that it distributed 19.651 million refunds, again a 1-percent rise from the same point last year.

Thus far, the average refund is $3,431, a 4.4-percent increase year-over-year.

If the flow of tax refunds rebound when the IRS shares its next update, Webb thinks the entire situation will settle.

But if not?

“It was my forecast that tax refund amounts would be a little bit slow this year,” Webb said. “But certainly if this trend continues, it would be concerning.”