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• Mar 22, 2018

The silver lining to tax season often comes in the form of receiving a return from the government. According to irs.gov, the average tax refund is $3,120. Even though it's your own money, it can feel like found cash, so people have different ideas for how to spend it.

TD Bank asked people who are expecting a refund what they plan to do with the money – overwhelmingly, they chose to use the funds towards bills or to pay down debt, rather than spend it on a new item or experience, put it towards a major purchase, invest, or fund a savings account.

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Here are some other things we found:

Preferred method of handling tax refund:

  • Direct deposit to a checking account (56%)
  • Receive a paper check, cash it (17%)
  • Receive a paper check, deposit to a checking account (11%)

Also of note:

  • More than 1 in 4 respondents (26%) said if they could give their younger selves advice, it would be to use their tax refund to pay down debt. Funding a savings account was a close second at 23%
  • 70% of respondents 55 and over receive their refund through automated deposit to a checking account, compared with those aged 35-54 (57%) and those 18-34 (43%)

For more information, or to request a copy of the full survey results, please contact Lisa Sawicki, lisa.sawicki@td.com

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