Maine Ranks Near The Bottom In Average Tax Refunds
It's tax season again, and if you're feeling a pinch here in Maine when it comes to your refund, you're definitely not alone. In fact, according cardrates.com, Maine receives the 3rd lowest average tax refund in the United States. Ouch.
In some ways, Maine is an incredible oddity. In 2017, Mainers filed a little more than 1.1 million tax returns. Less than half of those tax returns received a refund, making Maine the only state in the country with a percentage below 50. And of the more than 500,000 tax refunds that were given out by the federal government, the average refund only added up to $2,497.45. Montana and Vermont were the only states in the entire country with lower average returns.
You could argue that makes Mainers particular smart with their paycheck. After all, getting a smaller refund generally means you're getting more in your weekly paycheck. If you're playing devil's advocate, the lower average return numbers could stem from Maine's aging population and a lack of population growth. Depends how you want to look at the numbers.
The average tax refund numbers were based on the tax code from 2017. Cardrates.com warns that the average tax refund numbers could shrink even more with the 2018 tax code in place. Stay tuned for those numbers.