Federal tax refund on amazon gift card

[frugalnacho]

So I am filing my tax return, and turbo tax is prompting me to redeem all or a portion of my refund as an amazon gift card by enticing me with an additional 10%.   So if I choose to take $1,000 of my refund as an amazon gift card I will get $1,100.  My initial reaction was "fuck that just give me my refund", but I don't see the catch.  I am almost certainly going to spend some money at amazon this year, as besides groceries we do most of our shopping on amazon.  Seems stupid to pass up an opportunity to get an instant 10% return (even though I then have to hold onto have gift card until it's redeemed....so holding onto it for 4 years makes 10% a terrible return). 

Anyone else take advantage of the 10% amazon offer for a portion of their return? 

[Lookilu]

I did this for a portion of my refund last year. I had several spendy (for me) purchases planned for Amazon anyway, so I thought 'Why not?'
It worked out fine. :) The gift card was applied to my account and actually became the default form of payment, IIRC. 

[fields]

How much did you pay to use Turbotax?

[frugalnacho]

I downloaded a copy from a trusted source...so it was free for me.  I keep seeing ads on my phone for turbotax that say you can use it and file for free.  I haven't clicked on the ads because I don't ever click on ads.

I went with $700 towards the amazon gift card (so a $770 gift card).  I think we will probably end up using this over the next year.

[Ricky]

The real question here is why are you letting the gov keep your money all year?

[frugalnacho]

The real question here is why are you letting the gov keep your money all year?

I'm a dumb ass.  Got married last tax year (2013) and we both had jobs.  I never changed my withholding.  Shortly after that my wife quit her job, and I found mmm and upped my tax deferred contributions.  We made so much in 2013 that our taxes worked out pretty well and we had a moderate refund (ie we paid a huge tax bill for making money and not taking advantage of tax deferred accounts).  So this year I had a lot withheld, but ended up not owing anything after deductions and tax credits.  I have already corrected the situation and will not have any federal tax withheld this year (I anticipate owing $0 for this year too).

[JLee]

I did this last year, or the year before. No problems.

[I'm a red panda]

We did this with a small portion of our refund last year.

I wish we would just stop getting refunds, but every year we seem to have an unexpected event that messes up our withholding.

[dougef]

Is this only available if you bought TTax from Amazon?

[frugalnacho]

Is this only available if you bought TTax from Amazon?

No.  As far as I know anyone using turbo tax can use it. 

[zhelud]

We did the Turbotax-put refund on Amazon card thing last year (and got the 10% extra.)  We often buy things from Amazon (including groceries, etc) so we used it all up in just a few months.
IMHO, Amazon gift cards are great because you just put them in your account right away and they don't expire.  No worries about getting a gift card and losing it in a drawer or something.

[minority_finance_mo]

Might actually be worth letting the govt withhold some money, if I can guarantee a 10% return on it at the end of the year...

[frugalnacho]

Might actually be worth letting the govt withhold some money, if I can guarantee a 10% return on it at the end of the year...

Or just set the appropriate withholding (so you owe nothing), then change it in december and let them withhold however much you want on your gift card.  I would think if you time it correctly you could have the money withheld in december, file in january and get an instant 10%, then spend it by february essentially getting significantly more than 10% annualized.

[minority_finance_mo]

Might actually be worth letting the govt withhold some money, if I can guarantee a 10% return on it at the end of the year...

Or just set the appropriate withholding (so you owe nothing), then change it in december and let them withhold however much you want on your gift card.  I would think if you time it correctly you could have the money withheld in december, file in january and get an instant 10%, then spend it by february essentially getting significantly more than 10% annualized.

Oooh, this is why I love this forum ;)