Just SAY NO!: To tax refunds…
Thursday, April 16th, 2009
By Jeff Schnepper
Refunds: They’re wrong!
It’s hard to get that through to my clients. But refunds are bad.
Sure, it’s exciting to get a check from the Internal Revenue Service. Well, actually, it’s from the Treasury, but you know what I mean. That misses the point, however.
It’s not like you’re gaining anything. That money was always yours. The feds are just giving it back. And that’s the point.
When you get a refund, what that really means is that you’ve given the federal government an interest-free loan. You’re just getting your money back.
In fiscal 2007, 105.9 million Americans received tax-refund checks averaging $2,324 — about the same as the IRS paid out the year before. Either way, when you do the math, that’s a whole lot of interest-free dollars.
An offer you can’t refuse?
People just don’t learn. They want that check from the government. But I can give you the same deal.
I hereby offer to allow anybody reading this to send me money. I’ll take cash, checks, money orders, even food stamps. Send me as much as you want. And I promise — on my word as MSN Money’s tax expert — that I’ll send it back to you on April 15, without interest.
It sounds silly when you put it that way, doesn’t it? But it’s no different than getting a tax refund from the IRS.
Some people argue that refunds are a great way to save money. If they never see the dollars in their checks, it’s easier to put aside money for, say, that big-screen plasma TV they’ve been drooling over.
Open your eyes, financial fool! That’s what payroll savings deductions are designed to do. Buy savings bonds or, better yet, increase your retirement-plan contributions. Or just put an extra $50 per paycheck into a money-market fund.
Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll up the ante on my original deal. Not only will I give you your money back, but I’ll add a whopping 2% to your original contribution. That’s twice what the money-market funds were paying not too long ago. You can’t beat that kind of deal.
