Poll: More Using Tax Refunds for Bills

[gateley]

That nice annual tax refund from Uncle Sam isn't a luxury anymore for growing numbers of people. Instead, it's increasingly going right out the door to pay bills.

In the latest illustration of how the economic slowdown is hitting home, more than a third, or 35 percent, said they are using the money to pay utility, credit card or other bills, an Associated Press-AOL Money & Finance poll showed Thursday. A year ago, 27 percent said they were using it that way.

About a third said they are saving or investing the money, down slightly from last year. Nearly a quarter said they are using their refund to pay debt from credit cards and other loans - essentially the same as the one in five who said so a year ago.

Among those using their Internal Revenue Service check for necessities is Ricky Martinez, an unemployed construction worker from Waco, Texas. He said his refund was about $600, far smaller than last year's, and he has already used it to pay rent and other bills in advance because of his uncertain job prospects.

"It's just been hard for me to find a job," Martinez, 29, said in a follow-up interview. In past years when his IRS refund was larger, he saved it in hopes of buying a house, he said.

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