ATLANTA --- Colin Daymude was out of work last year after his business failed and eagerly filed his taxes in mid-January, figuring he'd get his refund sooner. He was wrong.
It took the 44-year-old entrepreneur more than six months to get his $1,300 check -- money he needed to pay living expenses while he worked a few side gigs.
Sharp budget cuts and falling revenues have forced many states to delay income tax returns for months -- and left taxpayers longing for their money.
Some states say plummeting tax collections drove them to hold on to the money so they can make ends meet. Others complain of not being able to keep up because the economic downturn has forced staffing cuts.
Critics worry governments are withholding funds that belong to taxpayers when they need the extra cash the most. Some states are approaching a stiff deadline of their own: The longer they wait, the more likely they'll have to pony up interest.
In Georgia and Alabama, tax officials are racing to beat a mid-July deadline to send hundreds of thousands of tax refunds or risk racking up millions in interest.
More than 120,000 Alabama taxpayers are waiting for at least $63 million in income tax refunds. Freda Warfield of the Kansas Department of Revenue said tax officials hope to send out $31 million in refunds by next week. The returns average $500 a person.
"The revenue receipts have just been down," she said. "There's not enough coming in to issue all of our refunds."
Analysts say the delays rob the poor of what had become an extra paycheck.
"Low-income families rely on that money getting reimbursed to them in the spring," said Mike Herald, a lobbyist for the Western Center on Law and Poverty, a Los Angeles-based advocacy group. "They pay bills with that money, they buy furniture -- a lot of people rely on that income."
GEORGIA'S DEADLINE APPROACHING
In Georgia, tax officials say more than 320,000 returns still need to be processed. If they are not completed by July 16, the state might have to dish out 1 percent interest for each month it is late.
State tax officials say it's not an issue of money, but an issue of staffing. Georgia Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham said the department had to cut about 280 jobs since October, including more than 150 processors who helped file refunds.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Are we stimulated yet??
'Earned Income Tax Credit'... you get a refund check even though you never paid any taxes. Then you complain because it's late!
It's so obvious our tax code is broken when low income families who barely pay or pay no taxes to begin with are able to pay bills and buy furniture with their refunds. The lobbyist quoted in the last paragraph is correct in calling it income; calling it unearned income would have been more appropriate.
GNX and Jebco. Do you actually pay taxes? I always thought the EIC was a federal program and not a state? In any event I keep looking for the Liberal lawyer that is going to file a class action on this and actually double my return. Zell pulled some shenanigans years ago and I wound up getting double what it would have cost normally. So if anyone hears of a lawsuit please post it.
What a load of crap! Anyone who believes the politicians aren't hanging on to the taxpayers money as long as they possibly can deserves to be taken to the cleaners. Government ceased long ago to exist for the good of the people it was created to serve. Now it serves as a tool for career politicians and bureaucrats in their never-ending quest for power over the lives (and votes) of the citizens who do the work and pay the bills in this country. And the next time you're late sending your taxes to Washington or Atlanta see if they'll let you off with one percent interest a month until you pay up. The bureaucrat on the other end of the line will die laughing, and your local career politician will be too busy planning his next campaign fundraiser to take your call. Reagan was right; GOVERNMENT is the problem.
Government IS the problem. It is time to "throw off" this government based on the ideals set forward in a document called the Delcaration of Inependence and start again based on a document called the Constitution. Why? Because the federal government has seized powers not granted by Constituional intent or law. Nothing in the Constiution gives the federal government the power to redistribute wealth or interfere in our personal decisions of what to eat, how much to weigh, what to smoke, what to drink, what to drive, or what type of healthcare we can get by the use of taxes or any other means. Time to rebel and throw off this government and raise up a FREE country again. Do everything you can to STARVE THIS ADMINSTRATION OF TAX REVENUE. Take your money off of the table. Buy tax free bonds. Avoid the coming sales taxes if possible. Buy any big ticket items you may need in the next 7 years NOW before they bring in a national sales tax if possible. Buy ONLY FORD vehicles and let GOVERNMENT MOTORS (Chrysler and GM) go down the tubes. Do business with banks that are NOT government controlled. You can safely help put this administration down and not get hurt in the process. Vote with money.