Year after year, I get a tax refund and year after year, I hear the same thing: I’ve given the government an interest-free loan with that money. Even Suze Orman’s sidekick got chastised this weekend for getting a $5,000 refund. She wanted to know why he was willing to lend over $400 each month to the government when all he has to do is increase his exemption and have his employer (um, wouldn’t that be the Suze Orman show?) withhold less.

Listen up, Suze, maybe he likes getting a refund. I know I like getting money back every year and I’m anticipating a refund again this year. My accountant filed an extension for me so I don’t know the amount yet. (I needed extra time to gather the documentation for my new Head of Household filing status.)

Here are three others that have waxed poetic about refunds and how you can make a windfall pay at tax time:

1. A lump sum allows us to be more thoughtful about how to spend it. A couple of years ago, Rich Taylor, a former Queercents writer explains:

I know, I shouldn’t allow a big refund. I know, I should adjust my withholding. I know, it’s my money and I loaned it to the government all last year, interest free. Silly me! But I just love my tax refund.

Why? Because it allows me to do things I otherwise might not. My refund comes in a lump sum, and like other lump sums (bonus, extra paychecks, etc.) it’s out of the ordinary. It’s an occasion to be more thoughtful than if that same money came as a tiny trickle each pay period.

Irresponsible? Undisciplined? Maybe. But this is one case where I find a mind game with myself works better than careful, frugal, prudent planning each week. I am secretly saving all year, never missing the money, and then boom! Mid-February (at the latest) a nice lump sum lands in my checking account.

2. It isn’t easy to be precise so wouldn’t you rather get a tax refund than owe the government money. Even Ramit Sethi, now a New York Times bestselling author, agrees:

First of all, if you end up owing the government money at tax time, most people don’t have extra cash lying around. We know this because they are horrible at managing their money and have record debt rates. Sorry, it has to be said.

Second, how much interest are we really talking about? Let’s say you get a government rebate of $600. At my high-interest ING account, that’s $1.50/month in interest. Oooh, the government is making bank off my money! Get a life.

3. Income tax returns are a psychological mechanism for Americans to start saving. Nick at Punny Money debunks the myth that tax refunds are bad for you:

On the contrary, income tax refunds are probably good for you, the average American citizen. (Though if you’re reading this, you’re financially smarter than the average American, so you may be an exception to what I’m about to say.) The average Americans with their negative savings rates typically spend their entire paychecks. Adjusting their W-4s so that excess taxes aren’t taken out in the first place just means more money for typical Americans to spend right away.

But if those excess taxes instead accumulate in a government bank account, they form a bigger ball of money. And at tax return time, the typical American will be more inclined to save that ‘œunexpected windfall’ instead of spending it like they would have during the year. Sure they missed out on up to 12 months of interest, but at least they didn’t blow it all on a giant TV.

Income tax returns are a psychological mechanism for Americans to start saving. If I give you $3,650 in December, you are more likely to put that lump sum in a savings account than if I gave you $10 a day for the entire year. Large wads of cash are an invitation to save; mere nickels and dimes demand to be spent.

This thought process has always made sense to me. Plus, now the IRS allows refunds to be split and direct deposited into as many as three different accounts’¦ just one more way you can make that windfall pay at tax time.

Did you owe money this year? Or do you agree that refunds are the way to go?

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