BLOG » New York State To Delay Refunds…Again!

February 19th, 2010 at 1:23 pm — By R&G Brenner

It appears that for the third year in a row, NY state is planning on delaying refunds to New York taxpayers. The last two years, the state was savvy in delaying refunds by issuing a blanket letter requesting “additional documentation” in order to release refunds.  However, in many cases, the state already had all the documentation in order to process refunds.  In light of the current budget crisis, it appears New York State can no longer beat around the bush.

Two other states–Hawaii & North Carolina–have already informed their taxpayers that refunds could be held as long as July!  New York state may soon follow suit if they can not resolve the projected $8.2 Billion budget gap by April 1st.  And with the State Senate at a stand still, and continuous infighting between NY legislators and Governor Patterson, it appears almost certain that New York will also be forced to delay over $500,000,000 in state refunds.

NY State has until June to issue all refunds before they must pay out interest.  However, this is little comfort for struggling & out-of-work NY taxpayers that need these refunds just to make ends meet.

“The refund checks amount to money that belongs to taxpayers. They haven’t given the state permission to manage it for them,” said an editorial in North Carolina’s News and Record newspaper. “[The state] should have anticipated and planned for shortfalls. Time is money, and the money should be returned to its rightful owners on time.”

Both New York and North Carolina point out that delays will not apply to those returns that have already been filed. New York has paid out $293 million in refunds so far to 281,000 taxpayers; North Carolina has issued more than $400 million.

However, since the majority of taxpayers have not yet filed, these refund delays will affect the majority of NY Taxpayers.  This is not right.  NY Taxpayers pay on time, their refunds should be distributed on time.  We here at R&G Brenner recommend that if you are able to file your tax return and have not yet done so, to file as soon as possible to avoid having your refunds delayed.

Sources: ABC News, AOL News, Newsday, NY Post

Category: Tax & Financial News, Tax Tips, Where's My Refund? | Tags: , , , , , , One comment »

  • Monica Brexendorf

    I have a good friend who bought the Turbo Tax Deluxe edition last year to prepare his taxes on his own, and when he could not figure out the program he called me for help since I have been a Tax Consultant for 12 years. Even I could not figure out how to get the program to put the Donations onto the correct line of his Schedule A. The software kept putting Cash Donations onto the Non-Cash Donations line and asking for descriptions of the donated items. There are rules about how much can be claimed as well as an additional Form 8283 for Non-Cash Charitable Contributions that is needed if the donation is above $500, so this was a real issue. The program was making what should have been a simple task impossible. He was left with two options; either submit the return incorrectly or pay to use another program to prepare the return which was very frustrating after spending $49.95 for Turbo Tax. I ended up preparing the return for him using Professional Tax Software; I wasn’t going to let my friend submit an incorrect return. The issues that come out of preparing a return with incorrect information don’t show themselves right away, the IRS and States usually wait a couple of years then they send a letter requesting changes or backup. These letters can turn into bills requesting payment for the tax liability, plus penalties and interest. Definitely a bad idea to try to “wing it” and prepare your tax returns yourself if you are not versed in tax law. It can be a very expensive mistake, especially since your taxes are the most important financial documents that you file each year.

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