Better yet, you should plan your taxes better so that you don't get a refund at all. Set aside money for quarterly Schedule C payments, and make the final payment exactly what you owe for the final quarter. (You have to make sure you stay within a percentage of the annual charge with the quarterlies, but there's no penalty if you're within a percentage of last year's.)

Remember, getting a refund means you lent money to the government interest-free.

But that's no fun!

I'm getting a huuuge refund this year and the anticipation is killing me. (Next year I'll get a much much smaller refund, if any refund at all - that won't be half as fun!)

Stilicho, I know it's poor financial planning on my part, but I don't mind the "interest-free" loan to the government because I like getting my own little "gift" back in the spring. I was responsible this year and rolled 50% of my bonus into my RRSP for the first time ever so I need this money to have fun with!

Metafilter's own J.D. Roth just wrote about this on the Get Rich Slowly blog. He actually thinks it's OK to get a big tax refund because of the psychological aspects of it.

In prep for NYC last summer, I opted to get more of my paycheck up front, for a few months, hence I owe a few hundred for both state and feds. I have been dragging my feet finding out exactly how much I will owe, and will pay in April.