Refund
/ˈriːfʌnd/noun
Money that someone receives back because they paid too much, or returned goods.
I returned the shirt to the store and got a refund.
Often appears as...
- get a refund
- issue a refund
verb
To give back someone money that they have paid, typically because they paid too much or returned goods.
The store refunded me after I returned the faulty toaster.
Often appears as...
- refund someone
- refund something
noun
In tax terms, it refers to a reimbursement given to a taxpayer when the tax paid is more than the tax liability.
Due to my incorrect tax code, I was eligible for a tax refund.
Often appears as...
- claim a refund
- tax refund
Usage tips
Technical
noun
Money that someone receives back because they paid too much, or returned goods.
I returned the shirt to the store and got a refund.
Often appears as...
- get a refund
- issue a refund
verb
To give back someone money that they have paid, typically because they paid too much or returned goods.
The store refunded me after I returned the faulty toaster.
Often appears as...
- refund someone
- refund something
noun
In tax terms, it refers to a reimbursement given to a taxpayer when the tax paid is more than the tax liability.
Due to my incorrect tax code, I was eligible for a tax refund.
Often appears as...
- claim a refund
- tax refund
Usage tips
Technical
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Transactional Context
Used when talking about financial transactions involving goods or services that didn't meet expectations.
Since the laptop was malfunctioning, I asked for a refund.
Pro Tip 2/3Proof Required
Documentation or receipts are often needed to get a refund.
Keep your receipt if you want to request a refund later.
Pro Tip 3/3Time Sensitive
There is usually a time limit to claim a refund after making a purchase.
The store's policy is to allow refunds within 30 days.
Compare with
compensationindemnificationrecompensereimburseremuneraterepayrestitutionreturn
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Video examples
3 psychological tricks...
If I needed more, I had to go through the whole process of adding a new card, and we know that every click, every barrier, changes our behavior. We all know that saving is important and is something that we should be doing. And yet, overall, we're doing less and less of it. We know what we need to do. The question How do we do it? And that's what I'm here to teach you. Your savings behavior isn't a question of how smart you are or how much willpower you have. The amount we save depends on the environmental cues around us. Let me give you an example. We ran a study in which, in one group, we showed people their income on a monthly basis. In another group, we showed people their income on a weekly basis. And what we found was that people who saw their income on a weekly basis were able to budget better throughout the month. Now, it's important to know that we didn't change how much money people were receiving, we just changed the environment in which they understood their income. And environmental cues like this have an impact. So I'm not going to share tricks with you that you already know. I'm not going to tell you how to open up a savings account or how to start saving for your retirement. What I am going to share with you is how to bridge this gap from your intentions to save and your actions. Are you ready? Here's number harness the power of pre-commitment. Fundamentally, we think about ourselves in two different our present self and our future self. In the future, we're perfect. In the future, we're going to save for retirement, we're going to lose weight, we're going to call our parents more. But we oftentimes forget that our future self is exactly the same person as our present self. We know that one of the best times to save is when you get your tax return. So we tried an A/B test. In the first group, we texted people in early February, hopefully before they even filed for their taxes. And we asked them, "If you get a tax refund, what percentage would you like to save?" Now this is a really hard question. They didn't know if they would receive a tax refund or how much. But we asked the question anyway. In the second group, we asked people right after they received their refund, "What percentage would you like to save?" Now, here's what happened. In that second condition, when people just received their tax refund, they wanted to save about 17 percent of their tax refund. But in the condition when we asked people before they even filed their taxes, savings rates increased from 17 percent to 27 percent when we asked in February. Why? Because you're committing for your future self, and of course your future self can save 27 percent. These large changes in savings behavior came from the fact that we changed the decision-making environment. We want you to be able to harness that same power. So take a moment and think about the ways in which you can sign up your future self for something that you know today will be a little bit hard. Sign up for an app that lets you make savings decisions in advance. The trick is, you have to have that binding contract. Number use transition moments to your advantage. We did an experiment with a website that helps older adults share their housing. We ran two ads on social media, targeted to the same population of 64-year-olds. In one group, we said, "Hey, you're getting older. Are you ready for retirement? House sharing can help." In the second group, we got a little bit more specific and said, "You're 64 turning 65. Are you ready for retirement? House sharing can help." What we're doing in that second group is highlighting that a transition is happening. All of a sudden, we saw click-through rates, and ultimately sign-up rates, increase when we highlight that. In psychology, we call this the "fresh start effect." Whether it's the start of a new year or even a new season, your motivation to act increases. So right now, put a meeting request on your calendar for the day before your next birthday. Identify the one financial thing you most want to do. And commit yourself to it. The third and final get a handle on small, frequent purchases. We've run a few different studies and found that the number one purchase people say they regret, after bank fees, is eating out. It's a frequent purchase we make almost every day, and it's death by a thousand cuts. A coffee here, a burrito there It adds up and decreases our ability to save. Back when I lived in New York City, I looked at my expenses and saw that I spent over 2,000 dollars on ride-sharing apps. It was more than my New York City rent. I vowed to make a change. And the next month, I spent 2,000 dollars again -- no change, because the information alone didn't change my behavior. I didn't change my environment. We aren't machines. We don't carry around an abacus every day, adding up what we're spending, in comparison to what we wanted. But what our brains are very good at
Video examples
Homing Pigeon: A...
passion start working for a rafting company 14 years ago what we did the first year we immediately hired a photographer and we would tell customers hey we took some great photos if you like to buy them you have to buy them sight unseen but we'll get them to you there's an X amount if you don't like them for any reason send them back and we'll refund your money
Video examples
LA92 Panel - Live PIPE...
refund for the present time we're not going that area for anybody we're working a number of radio support news copter 13 what we're doing is we have people aboard that are relaying information to the police helicopters into the emergency operation center of the city we're also showing a live picture that they're seeing they what's going on down here
Video examples
Why noise is bad for...
and to better protect our health? Well, first of all, if something's too loud, speak up. For example, many owners of movie theaters seem to think that only people hard of hearing are still going to the movies. If you complain about the noise and nothing happens, demand a refund and leave.
Video examples
Almost Attacked by a...
unsuspecting Brianna lion almost jumped into the change I a lion attacked Brianna in the face well it almost it almost missing as I missed I like this it was pretty great Lions aren't just like big cats did you get a refund I did
Video examples
In Gorgeous Palau,...
certain part of the reef and you do it so often then you you will affect the population of the fish and that particular refund so over the years they would do a pool which is like a prohibition or a no take and they would
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 364 PIPE...
on perennial water sources which basically means rivers that are flowing all year round okay I hope that I haven't seen my name have seen one in northern Kruger and on the refunds river in South Africa and that's it
Video examples
Undercover Agent PIPE...
the register to make a profit the gang plans to return the merchandise to other stores and pocket the cash refund the gang pulls out a roll of bogus bills the undercover team has been waiting for just this moment
Video examples
How the mysterious dark...
buy-one-get-one-frees, free delivery, to keep you happy. I spoke to Drugsheaven. Drugsheaven was offering excellent and consistent marijuana at a reasonable price. He had a very generous refund policy,
Video examples
This company pays kids...
So, let's charge them a weekly subscription fee to use our program, but -- if the students complete their weekly maths goal, we'll refund the subscription amount directly into the child's bank account.
Video examples
3 psychological tricks...
If I needed more, I had to go through the whole process of adding a new card, and we know that every click, every barrier, changes our behavior. We all know that saving is important and is something that we should be doing. And yet, overall, we're doing less and less of it. We know what we need to do. The question How do we do it? And that's what I'm here to teach you. Your savings behavior isn't a question of how smart you are or how much willpower you have. The amount we save depends on the environmental cues around us. Let me give you an example. We ran a study in which, in one group, we showed people their income on a monthly basis. In another group, we showed people their income on a weekly basis. And what we found was that people who saw their income on a weekly basis were able to budget better throughout the month. Now, it's important to know that we didn't change how much money people were receiving, we just changed the environment in which they understood their income. And environmental cues like this have an impact. So I'm not going to share tricks with you that you already know. I'm not going to tell you how to open up a savings account or how to start saving for your retirement. What I am going to share with you is how to bridge this gap from your intentions to save and your actions. Are you ready? Here's number harness the power of pre-commitment. Fundamentally, we think about ourselves in two different our present self and our future self. In the future, we're perfect. In the future, we're going to save for retirement, we're going to lose weight, we're going to call our parents more. But we oftentimes forget that our future self is exactly the same person as our present self. We know that one of the best times to save is when you get your tax return. So we tried an A/B test. In the first group, we texted people in early February, hopefully before they even filed for their taxes. And we asked them, "If you get a tax refund, what percentage would you like to save?" Now this is a really hard question. They didn't know if they would receive a tax refund or how much. But we asked the question anyway. In the second group, we asked people right after they received their refund, "What percentage would you like to save?" Now, here's what happened. In that second condition, when people just received their tax refund, they wanted to save about 17 percent of their tax refund. But in the condition when we asked people before they even filed their taxes, savings rates increased from 17 percent to 27 percent when we asked in February. Why? Because you're committing for your future self, and of course your future self can save 27 percent. These large changes in savings behavior came from the fact that we changed the decision-making environment. We want you to be able to harness that same power. So take a moment and think about the ways in which you can sign up your future self for something that you know today will be a little bit hard. Sign up for an app that lets you make savings decisions in advance. The trick is, you have to have that binding contract. Number use transition moments to your advantage. We did an experiment with a website that helps older adults share their housing. We ran two ads on social media, targeted to the same population of 64-year-olds. In one group, we said, "Hey, you're getting older. Are you ready for retirement? House sharing can help." In the second group, we got a little bit more specific and said, "You're 64 turning 65. Are you ready for retirement? House sharing can help." What we're doing in that second group is highlighting that a transition is happening. All of a sudden, we saw click-through rates, and ultimately sign-up rates, increase when we highlight that. In psychology, we call this the "fresh start effect." Whether it's the start of a new year or even a new season, your motivation to act increases. So right now, put a meeting request on your calendar for the day before your next birthday. Identify the one financial thing you most want to do. And commit yourself to it. The third and final get a handle on small, frequent purchases. We've run a few different studies and found that the number one purchase people say they regret, after bank fees, is eating out. It's a frequent purchase we make almost every day, and it's death by a thousand cuts. A coffee here, a burrito there It adds up and decreases our ability to save. Back when I lived in New York City, I looked at my expenses and saw that I spent over 2,000 dollars on ride-sharing apps. It was more than my New York City rent. I vowed to make a change. And the next month, I spent 2,000 dollars again -- no change, because the information alone didn't change my behavior. I didn't change my environment. We aren't machines. We don't carry around an abacus every day, adding up what we're spending, in comparison to what we wanted. But what our brains are very good at
Video examples
Homing Pigeon: A...
passion start working for a rafting company 14 years ago what we did the first year we immediately hired a photographer and we would tell customers hey we took some great photos if you like to buy them you have to buy them sight unseen but we'll get them to you there's an X amount if you don't like them for any reason send them back and we'll refund your money
Video examples
LA92 Panel - Live PIPE...
refund for the present time we're not going that area for anybody we're working a number of radio support news copter 13 what we're doing is we have people aboard that are relaying information to the police helicopters into the emergency operation center of the city we're also showing a live picture that they're seeing they what's going on down here
Video examples
Why noise is bad for...
and to better protect our health? Well, first of all, if something's too loud, speak up. For example, many owners of movie theaters seem to think that only people hard of hearing are still going to the movies. If you complain about the noise and nothing happens, demand a refund and leave.
Video examples
Almost Attacked by a...
unsuspecting Brianna lion almost jumped into the change I a lion attacked Brianna in the face well it almost it almost missing as I missed I like this it was pretty great Lions aren't just like big cats did you get a refund I did
Video examples
In Gorgeous Palau,...
certain part of the reef and you do it so often then you you will affect the population of the fish and that particular refund so over the years they would do a pool which is like a prohibition or a no take and they would
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 364 PIPE...
on perennial water sources which basically means rivers that are flowing all year round okay I hope that I haven't seen my name have seen one in northern Kruger and on the refunds river in South Africa and that's it
Video examples
Undercover Agent PIPE...
the register to make a profit the gang plans to return the merchandise to other stores and pocket the cash refund the gang pulls out a roll of bogus bills the undercover team has been waiting for just this moment
Video examples
How the mysterious dark...
buy-one-get-one-frees, free delivery, to keep you happy. I spoke to Drugsheaven. Drugsheaven was offering excellent and consistent marijuana at a reasonable price. He had a very generous refund policy,
Video examples
This company pays kids...
So, let's charge them a weekly subscription fee to use our program, but -- if the students complete their weekly maths goal, we'll refund the subscription amount directly into the child's bank account.
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Perianne Boring
American Businesswoman
With Bitcoin, every transaction is publicly verified, so many risks are eliminated, including chargeback fraud or 'friendly fraud.' This is when a customer purchases something online with a credit card; waits to receive the goods or service, then requests a chargeback refund. The bank then forcibly takes the funds out of the merchant's account.
Quote examples
Jean Chatzky
American Journalist
Getting a tax refund is nice, but having more money year-round is better. If you get a chunk of change from the IRS, you're giving the government an interest-free loan - not something they, or any bank, would ever give you. Instead, change your withholding so you get a little extra in each paycheck.
Quote examples
John Gerzema
Author
A German firm called Friendsurance relies on people forming their own groups, which apply peer pressure to keep claims and costs lower. The result is refunded premiums for customers and profit for the company.
Quote examples
Sucheta Dalal
Nobody expects the tax collector to be a friend, but one does expect the government to apply its mind to making payments and refunds fair and user friendly especially for those who are actually paying tax.
Quote examples
Mitch McConnell
American Politician
While other state governments stiff their vendors, close parks, delay tax refunds, and ignore unacceptably poor service levels, Indiana state employees are setting national standards for efficiency.
Quote examples
Virgil Goode
American Politician
In general, anyone who paid the long distance telephone tax will get the refund on their 2006 federal income tax return. This includes individuals, businesses and non-profit organizations.
Quote examples
Kayleigh McEnany
American Public Servant
Smaller tax refunds are not a bad thing - they're a sign that people are keeping more of their money as they earn it, rather than letting Uncle Sam keep it under his mattress for them.
Quote examples
Marion Marechal-Le Pen
French Politician
French people should be prioritised; clandestine immigrants get 100 per cent refund on healthcare while two-thirds of French people can't afford medical help. Charity begins at home.
Quote examples
Jim Cooper
American Politician
While tax refunds amount to substantial income for many Americans, current IRS rules do not allow taxpayers to directly deposit their refund into more than one account.
Quote examples
Joe Lycett
British Comedian
You should always ask for a refund at the theatre, apart from my shows, of course, where I won't be handing out any refunds.
Quote examples
Perianne Boring
American Businesswoman
With Bitcoin, every transaction is publicly verified, so many risks are eliminated, including chargeback fraud or 'friendly fraud.' This is when a customer purchases something online with a credit card; waits to receive the goods or service, then requests a chargeback refund. The bank then forcibly takes the funds out of the merchant's account.
Quote examples
Jean Chatzky
American Journalist
Getting a tax refund is nice, but having more money year-round is better. If you get a chunk of change from the IRS, you're giving the government an interest-free loan - not something they, or any bank, would ever give you. Instead, change your withholding so you get a little extra in each paycheck.
Quote examples
John Gerzema
Author
A German firm called Friendsurance relies on people forming their own groups, which apply peer pressure to keep claims and costs lower. The result is refunded premiums for customers and profit for the company.
Quote examples
Sucheta Dalal
Nobody expects the tax collector to be a friend, but one does expect the government to apply its mind to making payments and refunds fair and user friendly especially for those who are actually paying tax.
Quote examples
Mitch McConnell
American Politician
While other state governments stiff their vendors, close parks, delay tax refunds, and ignore unacceptably poor service levels, Indiana state employees are setting national standards for efficiency.
Quote examples
Virgil Goode
American Politician
In general, anyone who paid the long distance telephone tax will get the refund on their 2006 federal income tax return. This includes individuals, businesses and non-profit organizations.
Quote examples
Kayleigh McEnany
American Public Servant
Smaller tax refunds are not a bad thing - they're a sign that people are keeping more of their money as they earn it, rather than letting Uncle Sam keep it under his mattress for them.
Quote examples
Marion Marechal-Le Pen
French Politician
French people should be prioritised; clandestine immigrants get 100 per cent refund on healthcare while two-thirds of French people can't afford medical help. Charity begins at home.
Quote examples
Jim Cooper
American Politician
While tax refunds amount to substantial income for many Americans, current IRS rules do not allow taxpayers to directly deposit their refund into more than one account.
Quote examples
Joe Lycett
British Comedian
You should always ask for a refund at the theatre, apart from my shows, of course, where I won't be handing out any refunds.
Example 1 of 10
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