Tax Refund

Pay Your Taxes!

Last week I discussed some ideas on how you could spend your tax refund wisely.  I mentioned I get a tax refund even though some financial experts consider this to be a bad financial move.

The consensus among those experts is, “tax refunds are for suckers!”  Gee, sorry we’re not all suck-less like you, Señor Perfect – I’m assuming they are all men because ladies are nice and they don’t call other people suckers.  A little pandering never hurt anybody.

Getting a tax refund means that we overpaid our taxes and the government is giving us our change back… after 12 months.  It is like giving the government a loan without earning any interest on that loan.

Instead, we should adjust our withholdings so that we pay just enough taxes to come out even.  This means more money on our paycheck, which could be used for something else rather than have the government hold on to it.

And those financial experts are absolutely right.

However, the fact that they are right doesn’t mean that those of us who prefer a refund are suckers.  I’m not a financial expert, but I can see pros and cons to both: getting a tax refund and changing your withholdings to break even.