Fewer Americans plan to use their tax refund to pay down debt or increase their savings, according to a survey.
One of the first of an annual wave of tax season surveys on what Americans plan to do with their tax refunds says more of us will simply spend it.
Taxsoftware.com says 28 percent of taxpayers it surveyed plan to save their refund, down significantly from 59 percent in 2007.
Likewise, the share of Americans getting a refund who say they’ll use it to pay down debt fell to 33 percent, down from 54 percent eight years ago.
The survey says 12 percent will spend their refund on home improvements, 12 percent will use it to take a vacation, buy something or donate to charities and another 26 percent said they’ll use their refund for other purposes.
Respondents could choose more than one answer.
“As the economy has improved over recent years, taxpayers have shown that they are much less interested in using their tax refunds to build up savings or pay off debts,” says Taxsoftware’s Mickey Macedo. “Americans obviously think they have more important things to do with their money.”
The Internal Revenue Service began accepting 2014 tax returns Jan. 20.
As of this time last year, the average tax refund sent to individual filers was $3,288, up 4.6 percent from 2013.
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