I absolutely HATE getting an Income Tax Refund, because it means that I gave the federal government an interest-free loan. I'd rather have to pay come April, and I've always managed to get to that side of the line while ensuring the payment wasn't onerous. The pandemic, and all the overtime I earned through it, screwed up the calculations. Fine. But I was expecting to be back to normal this year. I very carefully calculated, or at least I thought I had. Nope. I'm looking at a $3K refund. I HATE this.
I could have returned 10% or more on that money in 2024. I could have dropped that money into cryptocurrencies and better-than-doubled it.
I shall avenge myself. I'm thinking I'll drop that money into a crypto-based Roth IRA in hopes cypto blows up some, and then I'll give the gubmint a big, hairy middle finger about the capital gains.
The American taxation system is SUCH a sham.