Death and refunds

While people in most states dread filing their taxes, Floridians, for the most part, have something to look forward to, according to a new report from personal finance and economics website SmartAsset.

Namely, that's an average refund of $2,877 per tax filer — good for No. 10 nationwide in average refund amount. On a cumulative basis, Florida's 7.8 million tax filers in 2016 received a total of $22.4 billion in refunds from the federal government, the study shows.

Texas, with an average refund of $3,133, checks in at No. 1, while Oklahoma, with $3,088, is right behind its neighbor to the south. Louisiana rounds out the top three. Its 1.65 million tax filers received an average refund of $3,073.

The bottom 10 includes some high-tax northeast states such as Vermont and Maine, plus some upper Midwest states like Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Oregon, Ohio and Idaho also disappointed tax filers with less-than-stellar refunds.

Some high-tax states like New York, Connecticut and New Jersey appear in the Top 10. But that could change in the coming years due to the recent tax code overhaul that will cap, at $10,000, the amount that filers in those states can deduct for state and local taxes.

There are other factors in what decides the amount in refund check, outside of states. That includes filing status, adjustments, exemptions and tax credits.

States with the Largest Average Tax Refund

• Texas
• Oklahoma
• Louisiana
• New York
• Connecticut
• Mississippi
• New Jersey
• Washington, D.C.
• North Dakota
• Florida

States with the Smallest Average Tax Refund

• Maine
• Oregon
• Vermont
• Wisconsin
• Montana
• Minnesota
• Idaho
• Ohio
• Michigan
• New Hampshire