The truth is that when we get a tax return it just means that we gave the government an interest-free loan.... If you pay too much taxes over the course of a year you get a refund, if you don't pay enough you owe taxes. My wife's work messed up a few years ago and didn't take enough out of her checks and we ended up owing a bunch of Federal tax - luckily we got enough back from the state so we ended up owing less than $100 overall.
Truth! If you get a ton back you should adjust your withholding, I know I have better uses for my money than letting the government hold it for me. If we do get money back (got married in July and we will be filing jointly so it's weird this year) it will go toward my wife's student loans. We've paid off $6,000 in the last three months!