Participants agree to save all, or a portion, of that long-awaited tax check in either a savings or retirement account, or else to buy U.S. savings bonds.

To be eligible for the prizes, they have to file IRS Form 8888 with their federal tax return. The form allows splitting of a refund via direct deposit into two or more separate accounts—and also allows for part of the refund to come in the form of a paper check.

They also have to submit a Save Your Refund entry form—available online or at most Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program sites.

Those who plan to use part of the refund to pay bills or cut down on credit card debt can rest easy—they only have to commit to saving a minimum amount of $50 to qualify for the random drawings of $100 prizes, and each week during tax season 10 lucky winners are randomly selected.

People who participate can also sign up for an additional entry that will give them a chance to win one of two $10,000 grand prizes that will be awarded after April 17, this year's tax filing deadline.

Considering that a Bankrate survey found that about 20 percent of respondents save no money at all, Pew Charitable Trusts research indicates that two out of five households wouldn't have the cash on hand to weather a financial emergency of $2,000 and the Federal Reserve's Economic Well-Being Report for 2016 found that 44 percent of adults couldn't pay an unexpected $400 bill without selling something or borrowing the cash, the chance to win an extra C-note by saving part of a tax refund sounds like a pretty slam-dunk choice.