Dr. Mike Walden, North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State University, responds:

"It really doesn't. I know that's going to surprise many people, but it really doesn't make sense to get a tax refund because, think about what you're doing, you've actually given the government free use of your money. Over the period of time that the government has had your money, they're not going to pay you interest on that money. If you give money to a bank or savings and loan or credit union or buy a CD, you're going to get interest on that while that institution is using your money. The government's not going to do that with your taxes. So if you have too much withheld from your check, you're giving the government an interest-free loan. It's better to try to gauge your withholding to hit as close as possible to a zero refund.

"Now some people use overpayment and their refund as a method of forcing themselves to save money. There are other ways to do that. You can set up accounts where there will be money automatically withdrawn from your paycheck and put into a savings account, where you get interest. So you shouldn't really celebrate if you get a big tax refund. What you should do is look at your withholding and, again, try to hit as close as possible to that zero mark."