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Uncle Sam Pays Who?
Last year, the Internal Revenue Service returned more than $332.8 billion to people who filed an individual income tax return. This means that, on average, taxpayers received a $2,690 check from Uncle Sam in 2010, a figure that we’re on course to meet again in 2011.Preliminary statistics released by the IRS late last week have the average tax return hovering around $3,129 this year, but those numbers tend to go down as April 15 approaches and more people file. At this time last year, the average was a bit higher at $3,149.
In sifting through last year’s statistics, MainStreet wondered if one state was more likely to get back more money than others. Using IRS data from the 2009 tax year, we divided the amount of individual income tax refund dollars received in each state by the number of individual tax returns filed there to get the average refund given in every state.
Read on to find out if you live in a state that has tax filers that collected the highest – or lowest – average refund from the government in 2009. We’ll tackle the 10 states with the lowest refunds first and then look at who made out best for tax refunds last year.
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10th Smallest Average Refund: South Dakota
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 321,538Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $747,393
Average Refund per Person: $2,324
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9th Smallest Refund: Hawaii
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 561,241Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $1,302,790
Average Refund per Person: $2,321
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8th Smallest Refund: Nebraska
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 715,961Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $1,660,003
Average Refund per Person: $2,319
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7th Smallest Refund: Alaska
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 267,141Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $618,513
Average Refund per Person: $2,315
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6th Smallest Refund: Wisconsin
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 2,335,626Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $5,405,690
Average Refund per Person: $2,314
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5th Smallest Refund: North Dakota
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 257,557
Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $588,629
Average Refund per Person: $2,285
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4th Smallest Refund: West Virginia
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 701,936Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $1,580,252
Average Refund per Person: $2,251
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3rd Smallest Refund: Vermont
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 268,981Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $597,855
Average Refund per Person: $2,223
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2nd Smallest Refund: Maine
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 551,147Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $1,192,024
Average Refund per Person: $2,163
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State with the Smallest Refund: Montana
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 390,645
Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $838,104
Average Refund per Person: $2,145
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10th Largest Refund: Illinois
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 5,317,904Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $14,955,215
Average Refund per Person: $2,812
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9th Largest Refund: New York
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 7,896,076Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $22,281,025
Average Refund per Person: $2,822
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8th Largest Refund: Texas
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 9,576,956Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $27,139,650
Average Refund per Person: $2,834
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7th Largest Refund: California
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 13,951,427Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $39,928,472
Average Refund per Person: $2,862
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6th Largest Refund: Washington, D.C.
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 261,974Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $752,070
Average Refund per Person: $2,881
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5th Largest Refund: Florida
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 7,858,774Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $23,009,119
Average Refund per Person: $2,928
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4th Largest Refund: New Jersey
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 3,646,427Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $10,825,688
Average Refund per Person: $2,969
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3rd Largest Refund: Connecticut
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 1,476,212Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $4,439,106
Average Refund per Person: $3,007
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2nd Largest Refund: Wyoming
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 234,202
Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $721,430
Average Refund per Person: $3,080
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State with the Largest Refund: Nevada
Number of Individual Income Tax Returns Filed: 1,125,764Amount of Individual Income Tax Refund Dollars Received: $3,483,981
Average Refund per Person: $3,094
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13 Common Tax Mistakes
Filing your own taxes this year? MainStreet put together some tips for how you can ensure that things go smoothly. For starters, read about the 13 common mistakes that many Americans make when preparing this returns or just check out our taxes hot topic for all the latest tips and tricks to maximize your refund!Photo Credit: Getty Images
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