By Robert Johnson
Managing editor    

The clock is ticking. Tax day is a mere 13 days away. This year is special because the traditional tax deadline of April 15 falls on a Sunday, and Monday, April 16, is Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C. — a holiday for the district, but not the rest of the nation — so you get until Tuesday of that week to get your tax return postmarked.

This year was the first year in the last decade that I didn’t have to pony up cash to send off with my return. Getting a refund, even if it was a small sum, was somewhat of an alien feeling, almost as if I had done something wrong in my filing. Double-checking the numbers and trusting my electronic tax return software to not send me to prison, I hit “send” and fired both my state and federal return off into cyberspace.

Low and behold, within the week I was basking in the glory of my $48 state and $92 federal refund.

Yes, I know a lot of you actually get more money back than me — most of you get quite a bit more. But to those of you in that category, I remind you that it’s your money you are getting back. Unless you are one of the multitudes that have the Earned Income Credit or other means to increase your return to more than you paid in, you’re just getting money back from the federal government that you loaned them at no interest. Think of your return as spotting a friend a twenty and having them pay you back on payday. No loss, no gain — and you can be sure that they will borrow from you again when they can.

Several of the more popular tax return software programs offer upgrades (read: cost a lot more) that can actually help you reduce this free loan to the government. You wind up with more cash in your pocket each payday with the trade-off of getting a much smaller tax return. The programs will analyze your last few years of taxes to make sure you aren’t enjoying some weird spike in returns, and ask you a few questions about your potential tax issues for the future, such as: are any of your children about to become ex-dependents? Are you getting ready to turn 65 or going blind? Then, in a miracle of modern technology, it will tell you how much you should withhold from your pay to cover your tax burden.

This is great, unless you use your tax refund as your savings account. If you are in this category, (and you’re not alone, as studies show that most people look at their return as a savings account), you probably aren’t disciplined enough to set aside that extra amount in your paycheck. You probably should stop reading now and just continue doing what you were doing before you started reading.

But, if you are disciplined, and can stick to it, you can grow your savings and not think of the pile (mountain or molehill) of cash as a windfall. You’ll build for a more secure future, and you’ll have that extra money needed when the car decides it needs new tires or your washing machine spins its last pair of jeans.

Saving is always a better plan than waiting for the refund to show. Reviewing your tax withholdings and opening a savings account is a great way to begin the trek to financial freedom.  You’ll be glad you did, and you don’t have to wait until Emancipation Day to start.