use Devel::Peek qw(SvREFCNT);

sub return_array {
    my @array = (42);
    print "\@array declared. Refcount: ", SvREFCNT(@array), "\n";

    my $ref = \@array;
    print "A reference has been taken to \@array. Refcount: ", SvREFCNT(@array), "\n";

    return $ref;
}

my $aref = return_array();
print "Function returned a reference. Refcount:", Devel::Peek::SvREFCNT(@$aref), "\n";

##</code><code>##

@array declared. Refcount: 1
A reference has been taken to @array. Refcount: 2
Function returned a reference. Refcount:1