Prof’s Dream Comes True
Tufano
Photo by Tracy Powell
Tax refunds can now be channeled into the purchase of U.S. Savings Bonds, a policy victory for HBS professor Peter Tufano (left), founder and president of the nonprofit Doorway to Dreams Fund (D2D) that has worked for years to restore the purchase option. It was removed from Form 1040 in 1968; President Obama announced its restoration in early September.
All taxpayers need to do is check a box when filing their return directing the IRS to distribute their refunds as savings bonds. “Research shows that making it easy for people to save can boost savings, helping people to take care of themselves and their families,” says Tufano. This change gives “over 100 million refund recipients a universal, simple, and solid savings option.”
D2D seeks to expand access to financial services, especially asset-building opportunities, for low-income families. In a three-year pilot that offered the option of purchasing savings bonds with tax refunds, 3,025 low-income tax filers bought 5,004 bonds worth $630,000, says Timothy Flacke, D2D executive director. “We can’t wait to see how many people buy bonds now that President Obama has raised our pilot experiment to national scale.”
