Amazing. About 60 percent of taxpayers surveyed expect to get a refund on their 2009 taxes. So, quite literally: most people are clients of the state, that is, they receive handouts from the government. The non-partisan Tax Foundation has been railing about this problem for some time. As Natasha Altamirano writes on the Tax Foundation's blog, fiscally troubled states and the federal government's "tax systems are heavily reliant on high-income earners, out-of-control spending, promises that can't be met and millions off the tax rolls."
The survey of 1,000 taxpayers by Complete Tax also found that people expect about the same tax rebate as last year, but many (about 41 percent) do not intend upon splurging it. (Are Americans changing their behavior and will actually begin to save money?) Financial services firm Wolters Kluwer (a site that I like to hit from time to time) has the press release and a link to the survey.