But the public doesn't seem to care. Voters in Houston and Phoenix, for example, recently passed referendums to subsidize new stadiums. But early filing isn't the only reason for the refund boom. But when those gains failed to materialize, they found they had withheld too much, resulting in the large refunds. With the economy slowing, such a large injection of cash couldn't be better timed.
Most households spend their refunds on items such as clothes, cars, and furniture.
And the unspent portion often goes to paying off debt, clearly a good thing considering consumer loans are at an all-time high. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.