It's that time of year when many of us start checking to see if our tax refund has arrived.

Around $10 billion is paid out by the Tax Office in refunds each year, though most of us can expect to receive just a tiny portion of that amount.

Your refund may not set you on the road to riches, but if you resist the urge to splurge, it can kick-start an improvement in your finances.

Research in the US has shown that only a fraction of people, around 4% of workers, invest their tax refund.

Most look on it as a windfall and blow the lot without too much thought about putting it to good use. I suspect it's a similar story here in Australia.

But used wisely, the money can be stretched a lot further.

One of the best uses I know of for your tax refund is to knock down your mortgage.

Using a refund of, say, $1,200 to make a lump sum payment on a home loan charging 8.9% interest over 25 years could reduce your total interest bill by as much as $9,600 and cut five months off the life of the loan.

Make it an annual habit to get the mortgage monkey off your back far sooner than expected.

Taking advantage of the federal government's Superannuation Co-contribution Scheme is a way for low- to middle-income earners to virtually double the value of their refund.

Under the scheme, workers earning less than $58,980 annually may be eligible to have their super topped up by the government when they make a voluntary contribution of their own.

Let's say you earn $28,980 or less (below $28,980 the maximum co-contribution applies), and use that same $1,200 tax refund to make a voluntary super contribution.

Under the Co-contributions scheme, the government will tip in an extra $1,500 on your behalf (that's the maximum co-contribution available). That's an easy tax-free return of 125%.

Another option would be to put the money into an online savings account.

There are plenty of these accounts to choose from, many paying rates approaching 8%.

Be sure to choose one that pays the highest rate on all balances as some pay tiered interest rates, with the best rates reserved for balances over a set amount.

A tax refund can also be used to fix any minor repairs in order to avoid a far bigger expense further down the line.

For instance you could get a few urgent repairs done around the home, or have the car serviced.

You may not make money this way, but it could save you lots later.

Getting into the habit of doing something sensible with your annual tax refund provides endless opportunities for building wealth - especially when you think about how much you could receive in refunds over the course of a working life.