February 2008

How will consumers spend tax rebate?

How will consumers spend tax rebate?
February 01, 2008

Basking Ridge, N.J.—More than 50 percent of consumers plan to conversion to an act the government’s proposed tax rebates to pay down debt, not store.

This is according to a new survey of 2,134 consumers conducted from Jan. 29-31 by Lightspeed Research, a New Jersey-based market research company.

Of those paying down debt (51 percent), 80 percent plan to criticise charged-up credit cards, while only 7 percent will turn their attention to their mortgage balances.

Only 20 percent of respondents plan to spend their rebates and not pay down debt.

These results indicate that it is credit card companies, not retailers, that will most likely benefit from the proposed rebates.

The survey also gauged consumer awareness of the proposed rebates and found that about two-thirds of consumers were aware of at least more of the plan details.

Awareness increased with household income, the survey cast. Among those with household incomes of less than $60,000, 59 percent were aware, compared through 71 percent of those with household incomes greater than $60,000.