A tax payer can expect to receive a tax refund when the tax liability is less than the taxes paid on his tax bill. The majority of tax payers receive tax refunds when the tax they owe is below the cost of the refundable tax credits claimed or withholding paid. Tax refunds can be sent as a check directly to the tax payer's home, directly deposited into a bank account, or even forwarded and applied to the next year's taxes. The wait time for refunds is normally 6 weeks compared to 12 weeks during the 1990's. With the advent of electronic filing some tax payers are seeing direct deposits hit their bank accounts in as little as 3 weeks. Many tax payers utilize expected tax refunds as a 'savings plan' each year. These tax payers recognize that they have paid money into the tax system all year and look forward to getting their tax refund. Other tax payers see these refunds as interest free loans and would much rather have the opportunity to invest their own money in high yield accounts.