Tax Refunds Up Slightly

[jeffrey]

The IRS issued its final figures for the 2004 tax filing season, detailing returns through April 30, two weeks after the April 15 deadline. The data showed more taxpayers got refunds, more filed electronically and more opted to have their refunds deposited directly into their bank accounts.

But the data also showed the Bush administration's initial estimate of the effect of last year's tax cut package was overstated. The average refund ended up rising by $98, the IRS said, to $2,063 from $1,965 in 2003. In February, the Treasury said it expected "the average refund will be $300 higher than had" the tax cut not been passed and that U.S. taxpayers would get about $195 billion in refunds... [read more at money.cnn.com]