We are probably going to get a hefty refund this year due to a surprise 6 months of non taxable deployment pay. It's a step above pulling teeth to get his finance people to do witholdings, TSP etc correctly, and since he's not in the MyPay system due to the nature of his job, we can't do it without them so we couldn't adjust. Essentially he ended up paying taxes, then getting those taxes back in December, it's all sorts of messed up..I'm not too concerned with it, it's just going into investments anyway.
Now, facepunch worthy...I volunteer in the tax center on post...and you would. not. believe the crap that goes on. We had people calling in and complaining the day W2's were released that they couldn't get their husbands W2..the site got SO overwhelmed with W2 requests that it crashed and even though we have NOTHING to do with releasing those, people called us up to bitch, and then wanted us to do their taxes without them so they could "get their money".
Of the ones that I have done, I generally ask what they are doing with the refund, ONE person so far has said something logical which was to pay down their credit card. Every. one. else mentioned, buying a new car, taking a vacation, putting in a pool (it's JANUARY people and you are probably moving in 2 years), buying clothes, buying rims for an already overpriced Camaro etc. It seriously makes me shake my head.
It especially makes me shake my head when they are claiming EIC due to CZTE and non taxable BAH and an unemployed spouse, then go and blow it on crap, crap that usually ends up on a yardsale site in a couple of months. You're welcome fellow human, MY tax dollars just bought your new toy since you literally paid nothing to the feds and got BACK money for having kids and an artificially low income. I don't think this would bother me as much if more people were saying, oh we are saving it for a rainy day, or for our next PCS, or for retirement because then I would have a little faith that they are interested in improving their future (and hopefully not going to be on other government programs).