What most taxpayers plan to do with their tax refunds — SURVEY
If you’re planning to use an anticipated tax refund for a Caribbean vacation or a shopping spree, you’re in the clear minority.
Only 6 percent of U.S. adults who expect to receive a tax refund this year plan to splurge on something such as a vacation or shopping spree, according to a new Bankrate.com report.
The report notes the most popular uses for a planned tax refund are:
— Saving or investing it (34 percent).
— Spending it on necessities such as food or utility bills (29 percent).
— Paying down debt (27 percent).
In a statement Bankrate.come said th “save/invest” and “spend it on necessities” percentages are the highest among the four surveys Bankrate.com has conducted in the years 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2017. “Pay down debt” hit a new low and has declined seven percentage points over the past two years, officials said.
What are you most likely to spend your tax return on? According to new report, here are the most popular uses→https://t.co/N9Ct0huNmY
— Las Vegas RJ (@reviewjournal) March 6, 2017
Approximately half (47 percent) of all taxpayers anticipate a refund this year. The percentage is highest among millennials (66 percent) and drops with age. Some 49 percent of Gen Xers expect a refund, as do 34 percent of baby boomers and 26 percent of the silent generation.
Overall, about 1 in 4 American adults had already filed their 2016 tax returns by the time the survey was conducted in mid-February. Nearly 2 out of 3 early filers already received a refund or are expecting one.
“Millennials are actually the age group most likely to have already filed their 2016 returns, and the age group most likely to save or invest their refund,” said Sarah Berger, at Bankrate.com. “They’re setting up a solid foundation for their future financial selves. It can be tempting to splurge with that refund, but saving it is so much smarter; consider it an investment in yourself.”
The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, which obtained telephone interviews with a representative sample of 1,001 adults in the continental United States. Interviews were conducted by both landline and cell phone by Princeton Data Source from Feb. 16-19.
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
