Can someone tell me why it takes the state of North Carolina so freaking long to process tax refunds? I received my federal tax refund over 2.5 weeks ago
I'm sure this was a rhetorical question, but... The reason is, the longer the state can wait to pay you, the longer it keeps the money. The longer it can keep the money, the more interest it earns. There is a financial incintive for the state to wait as long as legally possible to pay you money that belongs to you. On a related but side note... My daughter-in-law got a check from the IRS for a tax overpayment oversight from 2008 (or something like that). Did they include interest and penalties? Of course not. But if you miss paying the IRS by one day, you are hit hard with interest and penalties.
I filed both mine on Jan. 31st. received Federal direct deposited on Feb 6th and State check in the mail on Feb. 8th. So I am not sure what the hold up is for you. :?
I remember back in the 80's when I was still living in Delaware. Hearing on the news that the company "Smith Barney" was doing something like that and got busted for it and had to pay penalties. Why is it that the government can get away with it but business can not? Maybe its the same, maybe its not. What Smith Barney was doing was when they would pay a bill by check, they would have the money in money market or some other interest baring account and they knew that it would take 3 days for the check to post. Just before the check would post they would move the money from the interest baring account to the checking account. And what the state of NC is giving me back is about 1/4th the amount I got back from the feds. I just hope what ever interest they are earning off my money they will spend wisely (NOT).
that whole interest earning thing is not true. I am sure you have already tried the "where's my refund" on the Revenue page...but have you called? sometimes they have a bit more information regarding timelines and holdups.
What's even more frustrating is the whole "it's been recieved but is still being processed" update on the Where's my refund part of the website. We still haven't recieved ours either and I filed ours 22 Jan. Good luck.
My accountant filed my taxes almost a month ago Here is the message I got from that web page: Your tax return has been received, however processing is not complete. Returns are being processed as quickly as possible and refunds are currently being issued as processing is completed. We update refund information by 6 PM daily. Your refund information will remain the same throughout the day. Please wait at least 24 hours before inquiring again. To miss quote a line from an Alan Jackson song: State employees work like molasses in wintertime, But it's July.
I heard a quick blurb on WRAL news this morning that said there was a computer glitch that caused a backlog in issuing refunds. The problem has been fixed and the backlog cleared (they said), so hopefully it will not be long now! My accountant just e-filed mine this week, so I may not see mine until Christmas, I guess. Just glad I am getting a small refund this year, with my DH out of work for the first half of the past year I had NO idea what to expect! The time before when he was laid off, he got a small severance, it put us in a new bracket, we lost some tax break we were getting previously, and ended up owing the amount we usually get back...all while he had no job. Talk about getting screwed...so much better this year! Good luck getting your refund Rocky!
Hopefully this will never happen to you again but if he is ever laid off again, the first $35,000 of it is not subject to state tax.
Thanks for the info. I will ask him to check back over that to be sure it was dispersed correctly. It was late in 2009 and the taxes were taken out before he got the $$. The little bit he did get actually pushed our income into a new tax bracket and caused us to lose a deduction we were previously receiving. That is what caused us to owe we were told. So something that was designed to help, actually did not help as much as we had hoped. Still, the money we kept after the regular taxes and paying the income tax deficit for the year did come in handy when he was laid off again less than a year later. I hope he is done with being laid off for a while too, thanks!
Hey, you think its the State worker or the Dept of Revenue holding up your refund? I was a temp there for 2 tax seasons. You have no idea.... You should see the way some folks taxes forms come in (wrinkled, folded 14 times,etc). You should see the piles upon piles of papers that are submitted and have to be accounted for, scanned, tracked and entered (every single peice of paper that enters the building). You should see some people's handwriting (and YES, you'd be surprised how many folks DO still handwrite and submit forms). You should see the stack of forms that have to be re-read because someone transposed their SS# or their birthdate (yes, it happens). Oh, and what if Granny Eva forgot that one receipt for her new walker that's tax deductible and she calls up there to 'edit' her forms.... the list goes on and on... It's an amazing process to learn and see. But it is human beings doing the work. And it takes time. Sooooo, as I was saying....they are always in need of temporary data entry folks this time of year. Pay is excellent, parking sucks. Go on up there and check it out....
A. I can imagine how some of the tax stuff comes in B. Mine was filed electronically C. I may want to take you up on doing temporary data entry. It would sure beat being hit by patients and having to change adult diapers.
Not so sure about tax form data entry being any better than changing adult diapers. Rumours abound of people sending in tax forms that they first wiped their butts with. It may be a sideways step.
Okay, that was just too funny not to laugh at. On another note though, I can not imagine working there. I worked at Merrill Lynch for a few years. Tax time you dreaded as there were so many dog gone whiny people complaining about every little thing. The tax office must have people just to field the thousands of callers. You have more guts than I do to put up w/ the tax office. Dealing w/ it at the financial institutions on a smaller scale was enough to drive us all crazy in March and April. Hang in there those that work there. Stephanie-- mom to 10
It's no cake walk for the employers either. The phone calls started about Jan 2nd wanting to know when they'd get their W-2's. When the accountant gets them done and before the deadline. Now stop calling me! Right Kell? :jester:
The answer is: because Beverly Purdue is still the governor. She has been holding the refunds up since she has been in office.
