Since the most recent release of income tax refund checks in September, the government is now up-to-date on all outstanding payments, some dating as far back as 2001, Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said in a press conference Monday.
Since the start of the month, 14,269 income tax refund checks totaling $31.4 million have been mailed out, including 2,941 refunds that were filed in April covering the 2021 tax year. For 2020, returns that were processed without audits or other issues have also been paid, the governor said.
“This takes care of everyone that has filed up until February of 2022. This also means we are now paying refunds in the same year they were filed,” Bryan added.
“We are on track to issue refunds to everyone that files by the April 15th filing deadline this year before the end of the year. This means we have officially caught up on the payment of tax refunds. A goal that once seemed insurmountable.”
Approximately $25 million has been earmarked in the government’s operating budgets to cover the payouts quarterly.
To date, the government has issued 110,138 refund checks totaling $288.8 million, with refunds paid out in the last two weeks including more than $1.3 million funded through the reimbursement of the Earned Income Tax Credit by the federal government, which Bryan said was made possible through the efforts of Delegate Stacey Plaskett.
The distribution of tax refunds over the past four years are:
2019 – 25,227 checks totaling $63,889,250
2020 – 16,023 checks totaling $49,078,464
2021 – 35,717 checks totaling $91,164,846
2022 – 33,171 checks totaling $84,675,182
While the majority of refunds that were owed dated back to 2016, some of the refunds issued by BIR were from 2002-2003, and 3,770 of those refunds were from tax years 2002-2015, according to the governor.
“This is a mission that the administration embarked on from our first year in office, and we have worked meticulously and tirelessly to achieve this goal,” Bryan said. “As a result of this reimbursement and with the hard work and diligent fiscal practices of this administration, we will be able to remain current on the payment of refunds moving forward.”
