Use the waiting time after filing to plan how to use your tax refund to improve your financial situation.

People sometimes think of a tax refund as forced savings, yet, in reality, the taxpayer has provided a loan to the government without earning any interest. If a refund is substantial, check with the human resources department at work to adjust withholding to better match your tax liability.

Spend your tax refund. Because, really, you earned it.

Tax time is a great time to take any refund you receive and invest in your future either by opening up an IRA account, or increasing the deferrals in your 401(k) plan. What's very encouraging today compared to a few years ago is that American workers are increasingly demonstrating a discipline for saving and investing their hard earned dollars, and are less likely than in the past to say they will run out and turn it in for a plasma TV for example.

Tax refunds can feel like Christmas in springtime.

You don't have a filing requirement because you don't have a tax due. But if you had withholding, you've paid tax. It's worth your while to file a return to get your money back.