Dear South Carolina Dept of Revenue...

Being residents of the great state of South Carolina, we rightfully filed our state income taxes by the April 15 deadline. When our CPA did our taxes, we assumed we would not be getting a refund so we deferred from providing an account for direct deposit had we been due a refund. However, thanks to a new dependent and a few other loopholes, we were in a refund position, for which I was expecting to receive in the form of a check.
Well, today, this arrives in the mail:



Yes, tax refund debit cards. For your shopping convenience. As if everyone receiving tax refunds are chomping at the bit to go spend that money. I suppose this is a ploy to stimulate our economy and create consumers out of would-be savers. Urg. And to complicate things, no where on the document does it list the card balance, you must call in to activate the card and the SCDOR clearly states they will be receiving interest on all funds that sit in the account prior to being spent or withdrawn. Oh, and the cards expire 1 year from date of issue, so if you don't collect the refund in the next 365 days, the money is no longer yours. Really?!!??!
I'll have you know that I skidaddled over to Wells Fargo first thing this morning and cashed out my "refund debit card" for cold hard cash, which it immediately deposited in our money market savings where I could a) save it and b) collect my own interest on my own money.
Arghhhh government!!!!
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