Is Tax Refund Good or Bad?

I have finally got all my tax refund back yesterday, both Federal and Provincial. Some people might have argued that tax refund is a really bad thing because you basically give the government a free loan for a year. However, I prefer to receive a tax refund at the end of the year than getting it each month.
Spending habit is hard to adjust when you are trying to go from extravagance to thrift. At least it is a very painful process. Having the tax refund at the end of the year actually works as a forced saving. If I receive the tax deducted each month from my pay cheque, I might just allow myself to spend more rather than save the money.
Also, receiving a big sum of the money at the end of the year allows me to better utilize it. I can either put them into my mutual fund, ETFs, Stocks or Cash component based on my overall assets allocation.
What is your preference? A big sum of money at the end or a little bit each month? No matter what your preference is, saving it is the key! :)