Interesting, but I noticed that those with happy stories to tell gave little indication of what kind of earnings levels or occupations they are in. I suspect that they are generally in what we could call well-off situations. Buffy and Skip weigh in with the good news.

Those with less favorable experiences seem to have no problem characterizing their economic status. For them, a lowering of two or three hundred dollars doesn't really confer much economic advantage, and can easily be offset by other increases in costs for school tuition, local services, etc. I know, I know--they don't pay much, so they don't deserve to get much back.

Also, talking only about refunds can be misleading. I can't count how many times I have heard lower income folks (working poor?) brag about how big a refund they got, when in fact they had been grossly overwithholding.

Were they only grossly overwithholding, or did EITC also play a part????

I should have been clearer. The people I was referring to are young singles or young couples who both work and earn enough to be ineligible for the credit.

I only meant to make a point that there are a lot of people out there who have no idea how taxation works (or doesn't).

I'd still like to know what Buffy and Skip do for a living, though.

I was one of the people that commented on the unexpectedly high refund on InstaPundit.

I am a software engineer ( Database Administrator). My wife does not work outside of the house as she cares for our children. I earn a pretty good living but with a mortgage, car payment...I would say we a firmly entrenched in the middle class.

As far as the Buffy and Skip reference, I work very hard for the money I earn. I work many hours and weekends. I guess the implication is that because I earn X amount I am a yuppy undeserving of a tax break…which is crap.