We were reading through some personal finance articles today and found this interesting quote on the Yielding Wealth personal finance blog:
It may seem counter-intuitive to say that you want a $0 tax return. But that is my goal. What a tax refund indicates is that you have paid more in taxes than you needed to. It means that you have given the government an interest-free loan. Tax refund money is money that you could have been investing. Or at the very least putting in a high yielding savings account. My Preferred Tax Return Amount: $0, Apr 2009
You should definitely read the whole article. Although it is sometimes a nice surprise to get a refund, we tend to agree with the author of that post. We’d like to keep our money now, thank you, and stay out of the zero-interest-loans-to-the-government business.
How about you — would you rather keep your money now and get zero back, or get a refund at tax time?
I definitely would want $0 back. I could use extra monthly income to pay down debt or save/invest.