What to do with your tax refund

As April was winding down, the number of e-filers was going up.

More than 90 million tax returns were filed electronically through April 24, according to the IRS. As has been the trend over the last few years, more individuals in 2009 opted to electronically file their returns on their own.

In fact, that segment of filers hit a record this year. For the first time, says the tax agency, more than 30 million individual income tax
returns were filed from home computers. That's a 19 percent jump over last year.

As the math indicates, that means around 60 million taxpayers turned to tax pros to complete and then e-file their returns. That figure is essentially the same as last filing season.

E-filing to get refunds faster: One of the main reasons for e-filing is the speed at which refunds are issued. This year the hubby and I e-filed our Form 1040 on April 15. Our refund showed up in our bank account on April 23. Not too shabby.

I shifted our refund from our checking to our money market account the next day. The money market fund pays a big ½ percent higher interest rate.

If you're still looking for refund spending ideas, Quicken suggests three ways to get the most from your tax refund.

And remember, if you got an extension to file your return, when you are ready to submit the form, the IRS will accept e-filed returns thorugh Oct. 15.