100% FREE Fed & State, plus a free expert final review. Simple tax returns only. File for $0

100% FREE Fed & State, plus a free expert final review. Simple tax returns only. File for $0

Tax Refunds—Better Than Christmas?

Updated for Tax Year 2010

OVERVIEW

Every year, millions of Americans get a financial windfall in the form of a tax refund. Here, we've gathered some key tax filing statistics on how they're getting those refunds -- everything from how people file, to commonly-missed tax deductions, to the number of tax returns that are e-filed.

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<a href="http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/General-Tax-Tips/Tax-Refunds---Better-Than-Christmas-/INF13464.html"><img alt="Tax Refunds - Better Than Christmas?" width="560" height="6270" src="http://images.turbotax.intuit.com/iqcms/marketing/lib/images/infographics/tax-refunds-better-than-christmas-infographic-560.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="http://turbotax.intuit.com">Efile Online</a> with TurboTax

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The above article is intended to provide generalized financial information designed to educate a broad segment of the public; it does not give personalized tax, investment, legal, or other business and professional advice. Before taking any action, you should always seek the assistance of a professional who knows your particular situation for advice on taxes, your investments, the law, or any other business and professional matters that affect you and/or your business.

* Important Offer Details and Disclosures

TURBOTAX GUARANTEES

TurboTax Free Guarantee: $0 Federal + $0 State + $0 To File offer is available for simple tax returns with TurboTax Free Edition. A simple tax return is Form 1040 only (without any additional schedules) OR Form 1040 + Unemployment Income. Situations covered include:
- W-2 income
- Limited interest and dividend income reported on a 1099-INT or 1099-DIV
- Claiming the standard deduction
- Earned Income Tax Credit (EIC)
- Child tax credits
- Unemployment Income reported on a 1099-G
100% Accurate Calculations Guarantee: If you pay an IRS or state penalty or interest because of a TurboTax calculation error, we’ll pay you the penalty and interest.
Maximum Refund Guarantee - or Your Money Back: If you get a larger refund or smaller tax due from another tax preparation method, we'll refund the applicable TurboTax federal and/or state purchase price paid. TurboTax Online Free Edition customers are entitled to payment of $30.
100% Accurate Expert Approved Guarantee: If you pay an IRS or state penalty (or interest) because of an error that a tax expert or CPA made while providing topic-specific tax advice, a section review, or acting as a signed preparer for your return, we'll pay you the penalty and interest.
Audit Support Guarantee: If you received an audit letter based on your 2020 TurboTax return, we will provide one-on-one support with a tax professional as requested through our Audit Support Center for returns filed with TurboTax for the current tax year (2020) and the past two tax years (2019, 2018). If we are not able to connect you to one of our tax professionals, we will refund the applicable TurboTax federal and/or state purchase price paid. TurboTax Free Edition customers are entitled to payment of $30. We will not represent you or provide legal advice. Excludes TurboTax Business.
Satisfaction Guaranteed:
- If you use TurboTax Online or Mobile:
  Satisfaction Guaranteed — or you don't pay. You may use TurboTax Online without charge up to the point you decide to print or electronically file your tax return. Printing or electronically filing your return reflects your satisfaction with TurboTax Online, at which time you will be required to pay or register for the product.
- If you bought TurboTax Live from a retailer:
  Try TurboTax Live. If you're not satisfied with your purchase and have not filed or printed your return, return it to Intuit within 60 days of purchase with your dated receipt for a full refund (excluding shipping & handling).
- If you bought or downloaded TurboTax software from a retailer:
  Try TurboTax software. If you're not satisfied, return it to Intuit within 60 days of purchase with your dated receipt for a full refund.
- If you bought or downloaded TurboTax software directly from us:
  Try TurboTax software. If you're not satisfied, return it within 60 days of shipment with your dated receipt for a full refund (excluding shipping & handling).

TURBOTAX ONLINE/MOBILE

Try for Free/Pay When You File: TurboTax online and mobile pricing is based on your tax situation and varies by product. TurboTax Free Edition ($0 Federal + $0 State + $0 To File) is available for simple tax returns only; offer may change or end at any time without notice. Actual prices are determined at the time of print or e-file and are subject to change without notice. Savings and price comparisons based on anticipated price increase. Special discount offers may not be valid for mobile in-app purchases.
TurboTax Live Basic Offer: Offer only available with TurboTax Live Basic and for simple tax returns only. Must file by February 15, 2021 to be eligible for the offer. Includes state(s) and one (1) federal tax filing. Intuit reserves the right to modify or terminate this TurboTax Live Basic Offer at any time for any reason in its sole and absolute discretion. If you add services, your service fees will be adjusted accordingly. If filed after February 15, 2021, you will be charged the then-current list price for TurboTax Live Basic and state tax filing is an additional fee. See current prices here.
Pays for itself (TurboTax Self-Employed): Estimates based on deductible business expenses calculated at the self-employment tax income rate (15.3%) for tax year 2020. Actual results will vary based on your tax situation.
Anytime, anywhere: Internet access required; standard data rates apply to download and use mobile app.
Fastest refund possible: Fastest tax refund with e-file and direct deposit; tax refund time frames will vary. The IRS issues more than 9 out of 10 refunds in less than 21 days.
Pay for TurboTax out of your federal refund: A $40 Refund Processing Service fee applies to this payment method. Prices are subject to change without notice.
TurboTax Help and Support: Access to a TurboTax specialist is included with TurboTax Deluxe, Premier, Self-Employed, TurboTax Live, and TurboTax Live Full Service; not included with Free Edition (but is available as an upgrade). TurboTax specialists are available to provide general customer help and support using the TurboTax product. SmartLook on-screen help is available on a PC, laptop or the TurboTax mobile app. Service, area of expertise, experience levels, wait times, hours of operation and availability vary, and are subject to restriction and change without notice.
Tax Advice, Expert Review and TurboTax Live: Access to tax advice and Expert Review (the ability to have a Tax Expert review and/or sign your tax return) is included with TurboTax Live or as an upgrade from another version, and available through December 31, 2021. These services are provided only by tax experts or CPAs. Some tax topics or situations may not be included as part of this service, which shall be determined in the tax expert’s sole discretion. For TurboTax Live , if your return requires a significant level of tax advice or actual preparation, the tax expert may be required to sign as the preparer at which point they will assume primary responsibility for the preparation of your return. For the Full Service product, the tax expert will sign your return as preparer. On-screen help is available on a desktop, laptop or the TurboTax mobile app. Unlimited access to tax experts or CPAs refers to an unlimited quantity of contacts available to each customer, but does not refer to hours of operation or service coverage. Service, area of expertise, experience levels, wait times, hours of operation and availability vary, and are subject to restriction and change without notice.
TurboTax Live Full Service – Qualification for Offer: Depending on your tax situation, you may be asked to answer additional questions to determine your qualification for the Full Service offer. Certain tax situations do not qualify for the Full Service offering. These situations may include but are not limited to multiple sources of business income, large amounts of cryptocurrency transactions, taxable foreign assets and/or significant foreign investment income. Offer details subject to change at any time without notice. Intuit, in its sole discretion and at any time, may determine that certain tax topics, forms and/or situations are not included as part of TurboTax Live Full Service. Intuit reserves the right to refuse to prepare a tax return for any reason in its sole discretion. See Terms of Service for details.
Smart Insights: Included with TurboTax Deluxe, Premier, Self-Employed, TurboTax Live, TurboTax Live Full Service, or with PLUS benefits and is available through 11/1/2022. Terms and conditions may vary and are subject to change without notice.
My Docs features: Included with TurboTax Deluxe, Premier, Self-Employed, TurboTax Live, TurboTax Live Full Service, or with PLUS benefits and is available through 12/31/2022. Terms and conditions may vary and are subject to change without notice.
Tax Return Access: Included with all TurboTax Deluxe, Premier, Self-Employed, TurboTax Live, TurboTax Live Full Service, or prior year PLUS benefits customers and access to up to the prior seven years of tax returns we have on file for you is available through 12/31/2022. Terms and conditions may vary and are subject to change without notice.
Easy Online Amend: Included with TurboTax Deluxe, Premier, Self-Employed, TurboTax Live, TurboTax Live Full Service, or with PLUS benefits. Make changes to your 2020 tax return online for up to 3 years after it has been filed and accepted by the IRS through 10/31/2023. Terms and conditions may vary and are subject to change without notice. For TurboTax Live Full Service, your tax expert will amend your 2020 tax return for you through 11/30/2021. After 11/30/2021 TurboTax Live Full Service customers will be able to amend their 2020 tax return themselves using the Easy Online Amend process described above.
#1 best-selling tax software: Based on aggregated sales data for all tax year 2019 TurboTax products.
Most Popular: TurboTax Deluxe is our most popular product among TurboTax Online users with more complex tax situations.
CompleteCheck: Covered under the TurboTax accurate calculations and maximum refund guarantees.
1099-NEC Snap and Autofill: Available in TurboTax Self-Employed and TurboTax Live Self-Employed starting 1/25/2021. Available in mobile app only. Feature available within Schedule C tax form for TurboTax filers with 1099-NEC income.
Year-Round Tax Estimator: Available in TurboTax Self-Employed and TurboTax Live Self-Employed starting by end of February. This product feature is only available after you finish and file in a self-employed product.

TURBOTAX CD/DOWNLOAD

Installation requirements: Product activation required via Internet. Download option requires free online Intuit account. You must accept the TurboTax License Agreement to use this product. Not for use by paid preparers.
TurboTax CD/Download products: Price includes tax preparation and printing of federal tax returns and free federal e-file of up to 5 federal tax returns. Additional fees apply for e-filing state returns*. E-file fees do not apply to New York state returns. Savings and price comparison based on anticipated price increase. Prices subject to change without notice.
Fastest refund possible: Fastest tax refund with e-file and direct deposit; tax refund time frames will vary. The IRS issues more than 9 out of 10 refunds in less than 21 days.
Pay for additional TurboTax services out of your federal refund: A $40 Refund Processing Service fee applies to this payment method. Prices are subject to change without notice. This benefit is available with TurboTax Federal products except TurboTax Business.
About our TurboTax Product Experts: Customer service and product support vary by time of year.
#1 best-selling tax software: Based on aggregated sales data for all tax year 2019 TurboTax products.
Data Import: Imports financial data from participating companies; may require a free Intuit online account. Quicken and QuickBooks import not available with TurboTax installed on a Mac. Imports from Quicken (2018 and higher) and QuickBooks Desktop (2018 and higher); both Windows only. Quicken import not available for TurboTax Business. Quicken products provided by Quicken Inc., Quicken import subject to change.
*Early e-filing fee $20 each. Anticipated fee increase expected in March 2021.
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Tax Refunds—Better Than Christmas?

Want to use this infographic on your site? Just embed the following code:

Get every deduction you deserve

Looking for more information?

Related Articles

More in Fun Facts

Get more with these free tax calculators and money-finding tools

TaxCaster Calculator

W-4Withholding Calculator

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Self-EmployedExpense Estimator

Dependents Credit & Deduction Finder

ItsDeductible™

Documents Checklist

Education Credit & Deduction Finder

Your security. Built into everything we do.

* Important Offer Details and Disclosures

TURBOTAX GUARANTEES

TURBOTAX ONLINE/MOBILE

TURBOTAX CD/DOWNLOAD

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More Products from Intuit

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Get more with these
free tax calculators and
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TaxCaster
Calculator

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Expense Estimator

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Deduction Finder

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Your security.
Built into everything we do.