I’m almost ashamed to admit that this year I received a tax refund. Why? A tax refund means that you (including me) have provided the government with a zero interest loan. Granted I wouldn’t have earned all that much on my refund, but it’s the principle of loaning the government money. In my case, I was self-employed for a long time and doing an accurate estimate of my owed taxes was nearly impossible as my income fluctuated based on contracts I had and ReceiptWallet income, so I always ended up owing taxes at the end of the year. The latter part of last year, I started a W-2 job which kind of changed the game.
In any case, it seems like Americans expect tax refunds and then spend them. The smart thing to do is to adjust withholdings so that you come close to your tax burden and don’t get a refund or only get a small one. For most people with predictable income, this shouldn’t be hard.