It depends. Your refund could be lower due to a refund offset or if the IRS adjusted your refund due to a correction on your tax return.
As stated above by @TerukoL, a refund offset is when an IRS refund is reduced or intercepted to pay off delinquent debt, such as past-due child support, outstanding student loans, or unpaid state income tax. If this happens, you should get a letter from the IRS explaining why you didn't get the entire refund. You can also get this information by looking up your refund at the IRS Where's My Refund page.
Lastly, the IRS may have made a correction to your tax return, resulting in a lower than anticipated refund. You'll get an official explanatory letter when this happens as well.
@Megegray
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