Taxpayers sound off about refunds

As tax season plugs along (just 45 days until April 15), more and more taxpayers are talking about refunds. Some are finding that they are due more than they expected, while adjustments in withholding have resulted in a balance due for other taxpayers who have come to rely on money back at tax time.

Last year, just a few weeks after tax day, the IRS reported that it had issued a whopping 96,673,000 individual taxpayer refunds worth $259.348 billion. The average individual income tax refund was $2,683.

Of the refunds processed in 2009, over 70% of those were by taxpayers who elected to receive their money by direct deposit. Those taxpayers who received their refunds via direct deposit had, on average, a slightly higher refund of $2,948.