Tax refunds up 10% due to stimulus - White House

[sabra]

Source: CNN

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- White House officials said Monday that tax credits launched under the Obama administration's economic recovery bill have boosted the average 2009 refund by nearly 10% from the previous year.

The average tax refund for 2009 has reached $3,036, according to early data from the Internal Revenue Service.

While less than half of the overall expected returns have been filed, Obama administration officials said the increase reflects a growing number of taxpayers taking advantage of benefits available under the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

"The Recovery Act is a major factor behind these larger, record refunds," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman in a statement.

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/22/news/economy/recovery_act_tax_benefits/

[dkf]

1. Are these numbers already estimated in the deficit?

Or are we getting a shocker of a number coming at us?

[GOTV]

2. While that's good for people getting big refunds ...

... reading that article makes it appear that the benefit is not widespread. If you bought your first house recently, for example, your refund was boosted $8000. When the typical refund is about $3000, someone getting a $11,000 refund can bring up the average by 10% for a whole lot of other taxpayers who saw no increase.

Also, whenever I hear about taxes going down or refunds going up I have to wonder if my kids will be paying for it.

[Jimbo S]

3. Refunds can come from under withholding

albeit a small amount.

All these stats about refunds and such are meaningless to me. It's total tax liability is what counts.

[OnlinePoker]

4. So the average taxpayer gave the government an interest-free loan of $3k last year.

The aim should be to get no refund...that way you have the money in your pocket when you earn it, not a year down the road. I'm sure most people would like an extra $253 per month as this is how much extra the government is taking from you based on $3036 a year refund.

[Devil_Fish]

5. Great point. We should get intrest on our money that they hold. NT

[Igel]

7. Not necessarily.

Consider my family: We're likely to get a very large refund. Even if we had $0 withheld, we'd still get a large refund. The $8k refundable house-buying credit exceeds our tax bill for the year. The large refund is inevitable, unless we can file a W-2 that stipulates that the government give us monthly advances.

It's all in the averages.

[Doctor_J]

6. We got more back this year than last

We make ~75K combined (salaries), have a mortgage, charitable and no other deductions to speak of