[Kenny500c]

But if you owe too much you will be fined.

You are right, a refund is the same as an interest free loan to the gummint.

[Night Hides Not]

Your return is fraud proof if you owe money. Identity thieves can't use your SSN to claim a refund that way. Their computers match the SSN to the account balance, and reject the return.

You don't need to owe a lot...$50 should do it.

I learned this about ten years ago, when my wife was hit by identity thieves. We couldn't file electronically due to the fraud. Every year for the past ten years I've purposely underpaid, and the identity thieves never came back.