Survey: How Do Americans Plan to Use Their Tax Refund?

Getting and Spending, or Getting and Saving?

As for how taxpayers are planning to use their tax refunds, most have definite plans. About 40% plan to either save or invest their tax refund, while others are either planning to spend or pay down existing debts.

Question: How do you plan to use your tax refund?

Women are more likely to either save or invest their tax refund than men, our survey found, with 44% of women choosing not to immediately spend what they're getting back. Only 37% of men claimed that was their plan for their expected refund. However, men who chose either saving or investing were much more likely to opt to invest their refund, compared with women Experian asked.

Question: How do you plan to use your tax refund? (Savers and investors only)

On the spend-the-refund side of the answer, paying down debt was most pronounced among taxpayers ages 55 to 64. Among that group, 29% claimed they'll use their tax refund to bring down any outstanding balances, versus 21% among the population overall. That finding parallels what other recent data Experian has discovered over the past year, such as those of Gen X age having the largest credit card balances among all generations in 2024.

Do-It-Yourself Filing Is Still the Most Popular Method—But It Costs Many Taxpayers

Most taxpayers Experian surveyed said they preferred to do their federal taxes themselves instead of hiring a tax preparer or accountant to file for them. Of course, the complexity of one's tax situation may inform these decisions.

"I have to do my taxes with a professional," reports one taxpayer we asked. "The tax forms are so complicated because of the myriad of special rules, plus having kids in college, we can't do it ourselves anymore."

Question: How did you file, or will you plan to file, your federal taxes this year?

However, those who self-filed online often still paid for the privilege of DIY, according to Experian's survey. Two-thirds of filers overall paid to file their 2024 federal taxes, including more than half (54%) who self-filed online.

While many Americans have become accustomed to paying a professional or an online tax service to help them file their taxes, IRS Free File is available to those taxpayers with qualifying incomes. As of the 2024 tax year, the IRS Free File program is available to those with an annual income of $84,000 or less.

Taxpayers Show Key Differences in Tax Filing Habits by Age

Older filers who are still of working age (45 to 64 years old) were more likely to file their federal taxes closer to the deadline than the overall population, according to our survey. That could be due to having more complicated filing than younger, single filers—which mirrors their more complicated financial lives relative to other cohorts. This complexity applies to their credit as well, as older consumers tend to have multiple types of debt to simultaneously manage, such as mortgages, auto loans and student loans.

Older taxpayers indicated they are far more likely to work with a professional tax preparer to assess and file their taxes. Among taxpayers in the 65-plus age bracket, 48% said they worked with a professional, whereas just 31% of taxpayers ages 25 to 34 did the same. (An even smaller share of taxpayers ages 18 to 24, 30%, got professional help.)

The youngest taxpayers we surveyed were far more likely to take advantage of free tax filing services. Our survey found that 41% of tax filers ages 18 to 24 submitted their returns for free versus 18% of survey respondents 65-plus who said they qualified for free tax filing.