After waiting nearly two months to get our state tax refund we finally received it a few days ago. It’s nice to have our money back.
A reader left a great comment with useful information from the Alabama Department of Revenue on another post, saying,
The Alabama Department of Revenue gets its money for income tax refunds from the state’s Education Trust Fund, because that’s where income taxes are deposited.
However, with the economic downturn of the past year or so and the proration that followed, there’s not enough money in the fund to recompense what taxpayers overpaid.
“The people who got their tax returns processed early got their refunds pretty quickly,†said Carla Snellgrove, public information manager for the Department of Revenue. “As we get closer to the filing deadline, we’ve had to deal with cash flow issues from the Education Trust Fund.
“It comes down to priority.â€
First in line are public elementary and secondary schools; colleges and universities get paid next; and tax refunds are handled with whatever money remains.
Alabama law gives the state until July 15 to fulfill its refund obligations before interest begins accruing on those unpaid refunds. On average, 1 million out of 1.8 million tax filers get refunds. In this fiscal year, Snellgrove said about 629,000 refunds have been issued.
Snellgrove said, hopefully, revenue will soon pick up and keep pace with expenditures through the trust fund. Revenue comes in monthly via money withheld in employees’ paychecks. Self-employed Alabamians will file their quarterly taxes by the end of April.
“We have gotten a lot of phone calls from taxpayers who are accustomed to getting their state refunds quickly,†she said. “I think in the past several weeks, taxpayers have gotten concerned about reports that the state of California and Kansas were putting tax refunds on hold and that they didn’t know when they’d begin issuing them.
“We are issuing refunds, but they’re going out a bit more slowly.â€
Just reading this reminds me of why I hate politics and poorly run government.
Here’s an idea: keep that refund money seperate from the education money.
Or here’s another idea: have the government live off of last year’s income and pay down debt. I recommend to my readers that they live off of last month’s income (have a one month buffer in your checking account), and I think it works for the government, too. Sorry, no, you can’t spend any more this year because you’re out of money. Get over it.
Anyways, off of my soap box! I’m just glad we’ve got our refund and I can roll the difference between what we owed the federal government and what Alabama owed us into our second mortgage. One step at a time…
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Congrats Kristin!!! I ran excitedly to the mailbox…but no such luck here!!! LMAO Then I laughed at myself! I know its not funny…but its either laugh or call and fuss someone out!
I have been waiting for 10 weeks for my refund, nothing yet. It’s not like they owe me a huge amount of money but they do owe it to me. If our politicians new what the hell they were doing none of us would have to wait – do you think they would wait on us to pay? No & they wouldn’t give us months to pay it before interest began to kick in, they don’t have to pay us any interest until after July 15th, I think they should pay interest as soon as they accepted my tax form……….
Well, I got a letter today from the State of Alabama. I was so
excited that like Kristen, they had sent it in the mail. Here it
is almost 20 weeks since sending my taxes in, I have a letter
in my hand asking me to re-submit all my expenses, receipts,
and paperwork again. And here is the best part…if they do not
receive all my paperwork by July 10th, my Refund is Null and
Void. Its July 2nd, and there is NO WAY I can get with my CPA and have everything to send in time. Isnt it convienient I received this the day before July 4th Holiday. Im so furious and ashamed of where I live right now we could cry. We are giving up on trying and waiting anymore.
Beware, and Good Luck Folks, and pray for our Country.
Well there you go. I wondered what there new strategy was gonna be. Now we know. Put it off…ask for more and more info…put it off….make it impossible…ohhhh if I get one of those letters ya’ll are gonna read about me in the newspaper. Haha I’ll be the blonde camped out in Montgomery!!!
I received my letter last week, My tax preparer said the State was just
buying more time…. OK, Whatever I have been waiting since Feb 3,!!!!
Here’s a better idea. Don’t require my employer to withhold too much in taxes in the first place so that you can get what amounts to a free loan. The withholding form should allow for reduction of taxable income based upon projected deductions. I am a CPA, I can handle it!!!! If not, charge me a penalty. They have NO RIGHT taking more moneyn from me than is owed. In New York, I had the flexibility to have less withheld.
By the way, I am now going on 4 MONTHS and we are talking a significant amount of money!!!! If I had known the policy in Alabama was so screwed up, I would not have moved here. I am telling everyone who asks me if it is a good place to live NOT TO!!!
Looks my last 2 posts have been deleted. I suggest everyone be careful what us said here. I just got audited by the State, when I just spoke to an Agent 2 weeks ago, and everything was OK and ready to Refund when money comes in. Then, I received a letter saying they needed more info, and if not received in 10 days, I would forfeit my Refund. Now Im being audited, and my posts are missing on here?
Hmmmmmmmmm…My taxes arent a worry as my CPA said everything was in order, and a very simple filing.
Makes one wonder who this site is really operated by……..
Shame………..
@Vern: To put forth the idea that somehow my blog is linked to the state of Alabama is asinine at best.
I suggest something very basic has happened: there are so many comments on this post — due to its popularity — (this is the 57th at the time of this writing) that my blogging software puts them on individual pages 50 at a time so that when people visit the page doesn’t take a long time to load.
Here is where the first 50 comments have gone: http://www.nodebtplan.net/2009/04/12/alabama-state-tax-refund-finally/comment-page-1/#comments
You can reach this page by clicking “previous comments” in the comment area.
Your comments from the following days appear on that page: May 19, May 20, June 12, June 30, and July 1. Your comments from July 2nd and July 8th appear on this page of comments.
In terms of who this site is operated by, feel free to check out my about page.
I am NOT associated with the state of Alabama in any way (although my wife is a teacher).
In the future if you have some sort of issue with the site I would appreciate an e-mail and I could kindly clear up and confusion with you that way rather than putting completely false information out into the comments.
@ Vern. Hey I’m still showing your posts. Besides the one today. You had one on July 2nd about the letter and July 1, June 30th etc. Maybe your computer is playing tricks on you. Were those the posts you were talking about?
Kevin and Gang…My sincerest aplologies to everyone. I should have been more detailed in my statement. I wasnt implying that you were in cahoots with the State, rather that if they monitor this site, shame on them for taking advantage of our concerns.
However, I did jump the gun on the deleted posts, again…Im sorry Kev. I should have emailed you first, asking what had happened.
This is a great page to vent and speak one’s mind, and I do appreciate your work on this site.
Guess Im letting the State get the best of me. It just hurts when the State takes money from my family, after we worked so hard to earn it, then they hide behind lies and deceit, making it even harder to receive what is ours to begin with.
Again, my sincererest apologies to everyone here…
I just have a question. I am sitting here with a copy of my tax forms, I have called the hotline and checked online to get an update on my refund and all it says is that the information I entered, does not match their records. I am looking at a copy and I know i have entered the correct information. Does anyone have a telephone number I can call and speak to a person at the Dept. of Revenue about the status of my refund?
Thanks in advance,
Kevin
To Kevin H,
Make sure you have your SS# correct, your filing status,
and amount of refund with dollar amount only…no cents.
If still an error, Ive found writing them gets a quicker re-
sponse, and have things in writing. The link to write is…
http://www.revenue.alabama.gov/incometax/mailform.cfm
Also, try calling the refund Hotline at 1-800-558-3912.
Most of the time people receive an error when entering
info on the refund online because they enter the wrong
filing status.
SS# Usually is correct
40 – Electronically Filed
40 – Paper Filed
40A – Paper Filed
40NR – Paper Filed
Refund Amount $750 (Dollar amounts only, NO CENTS)
Hope this helps,
Vern
I filed my state tax return on the deadline and thought it might take a little longer since I did wait til the deadline which I had never done before. Mid-June I get a letter from them saying they lost my W2 form and I needed to mail another one to them. I promptly mailed another one out and found out today that is was approved today and I am wondering when will I see the refund? It’s not much but I am currently unemployed and just exhausted my unemployment benefits and it would sure come in handy, NOW!!! I feel this is a shame that our state and national government can’t do a better job than this.
On the news yesterday, the reporter was saying that the states of Alabama and Georgia was scrambling to get refunds out to avoid interest payments. I thought to myself “yea right”. Still no refund this morning. Oh well. Waiting to see how much interest will be…..
I spoke with someone from the Al rev dept about the interest and she stated it was 4% compounded monthly. Sounds fine but I find it hard to believe it is compounded monthly. She could be right…that would be a first. My wife and I have adjusted our withholding last month. Time to replace the current fat cats (redneck bubbas) in Montg. I live in Huntsville and the good ole boy system here if falling to the side.
finally i received my refund today.like i said it would come on the deadline for enterest.5 months.and i efiled.
Well folks our refund was direct deposited overnight. I e-filed in April. Guess they couldnt afford the interest either. Haha. Updates anyone else?
Mines was direct deposited last night as well. I’m sure most people have gotten theirs now because I actually applied for an extension and filed after the original deadline…by paper at that.
Still waiting on mine! E-filed on or about April 1 and no direct deposit as of yet!
We finally received ours on July 17 via direct deposit. better late than never……..
Sounds like they are starting to roll in. As good as this sounds I don’t think we should ignore what has happened thus far.
What ideas does everyone have for moving forward? Should we pressure our elected officials?
At the very least let me encourage all of you to adjust your withholdings so the state doesn’t owe you a refund next year. The easiest way to not have a delayed refund is to not be owed one. (Obviously you have to be careful not to severely under-withhold and potentially pay fees for that.)
I’d much rather owe $100 than be owed $100.
You can learn how to prepare for your 2009 tax return in an article I wrote about it.
Great Advice Kevin! Adjusted ours last week. As for our
Refund return, we are still waiting to see what they will
do. After they lost our first set of returns with all our
reciepts and mileage records, then asking us to re-
send everything with-in 10 days, we sent in the paperwork
they had sent, and checked the box we didnt have the
paperwork to show receipt of expenses, but made darn
sure in a letter it was becuase of the timing issue, and
their error in losing our first set, even sent registered mail
that they signed for. Have a feeling I wont be getting the
$872 due us. Glad for others though that are getting theirs.
We’ll keep waiting till we hear something and update everyone
then. Good Luck to everyone and take Kev’s advice. Its not
worth the money to go thru this emotionally.
So glad I found this website. I spoke to the Ala. Dept. of Rev. today (July 22) and was informed that it would probably be another 90 days before I received my refund. When I asked why my daughter, whose return was enclosed in the same mailing envelope as mine and mailed on April 15th, had already received her refund, but I had not, I was told that maybe hers didn’t have stuff that “needed to be looked at.” I asked whether this meant I was in line for an audit, and was told no. I then asked the person what kind of stuff was being “looked at” that didn’t involve an audit but was still enough to hold up my refund for 6 months. She couldn’t say. I finally asked whether the real reason was because the state simply couldn’t afford to pay the substantial refund amount until the new fiscal year begins in Sept. Although she didn’t come right out and say so, that is the impression I got. Really scary thought.
Well, the wait is finally over…and of course as no surprise, our Refund of $872 has turned into us having to pay the State
$116.00. After they lost our initial returns, then we had to re-
copy everything and return it to them in 10 days, they say they
did not receive it in time, they went with a standard deduction, and
ruled all the expenses I claimed (Mileage, business expenses, etc.)
were null and void. I just cant beleive this. Ive worked in 5 other
states, having the same yearly expenses, and never had a problem.
Good Luck to everyone here, and to those that received their refunds,
you need to be very thankful. Im so ashamed of my home state, and
we’re very seriously considering moving to Pensacola, FL. just
1/2 hour from us. Florida has NO State Tax.
Shame on the State of Alabama. You hurt the very people who
gave their owed tax to you willingly, and you swindled us. Alabama
has now joined the ranks of the Mob.
Good Luck Everyone,
Vern
Wow, that’s essentially nearly a thousand dollars difference – you were swindled by the state. I wouldn’t blame you one bit if you decided to move to FL. I only work a little bit in AL and live and work full time in MS – but now don’t even want to work at all in AL any more because of this mess. MS is kind of bad, but I did have my tax return within three weeks though.
i sent my tax papers in early feb. still have not heard anything i called and got no answeras to why so i guess when they or ready they will send it or try and find a way to keep it
I filed near the deadline, and hadn’t heard anything. Filled out the form last week and got immediate reply that they didn’t have it and that I need to refile. Very very strange.
My return is very straight-forward, other than the fact I itemize the usual stuff (mortage, etc). Given the prompt reply on the “where is my refund” I am hopeful that I’ll get my money reasonably soon.
It definitely is not a good time to be waiting on $800….
The state is broke and they want to earn as much interest on our money as they possibly can!
It august 24th and I still have not received my refund. I sent it in around February 24th and it was approved the next day because I did it electronically. Needless to say in April I got a letter stating I needed to send proof of all my deductions. Are you serious!!! But to their suprise I gathered everything and returned it before the deadline. The website says info has been received and process. What does this mean. Can I expect my check to be deposited? No it means I am still without a check I am sure they thought they could keep. I called and their wasn’t much they could say except wait. Weight is what broke the bridge, wait is what i have been doing.. I am disappoint none the less. I really need my return as many of us do. Who can you count on now a days. Good luck to all that is still waiting..
i mailed my refund one month before 4/15 and here it is sept. 2 AND STILL NO REFUND. i called a month ago and they said two to ten weeks, i called apr. 2 and they said six to eight weeks. way to go bama.
I called a few days ago and the paper work i had sent back in may had never been looked at. The lady i spoke with this time was very nice, not too informative but nice. She said nothing had been done and she was pulling my info as we spoke on the phone. I can say the status on the website has changed from information received and is being process back to your refund will be received in 8-12 weeks. Oh and here is the BIG dinger. They reduced my refund. Yes I am happy to be receiving one but I am a little disappoint its not what i initially was getting. Good luck and I am still waiting
I filed my Alabama state taxes in April and have yet to receive my return. Cheked on the status of it just now, and the site states it will be another eight to twelve weeks – which is about what it said two months ago when I checked. This is pretty ridiculous!
I filed my taxes in Feb., Iwas told that the refund was ready to be mailed but
do not look for it until at least Oct.1, due to the state wraping up the
3rd quater. I truly don’t look for the refund this year,Good luck to all that is still waiting..
I filed my tax return about six weeks ago and still have not recieved my refund. I was hoping to get it before I had to pay my federal. Seems I may have to come up with a backup plan. I file as Non resident because I live in MS and work in AL. I bet I am one of the last ones to get a refund. There are people where I work that live in AL and filed after me and they already have their returns.
ppeden,
if you read over the comments, it took most of us MONTHHHHHSSS to get our returns last year. I’m talking 4-6 months. So six weeks…..you are lucky if you get it anytime soon! Wishing you some luck!!
At Last, My Refund has been Issued? Approved 3/9/10.Should receive in 12 days.
Update—as of midnight (wednsday morn)—refund received. Thanks all for the posts. Approved march 9….received may 26….direct deposit.
Well no refund for me. I received a certified letter saying I owed the state. When all this time I thought I was getting a refund even when I still go to refund status website it says its being processed and I will receive a check in 8 to 12 weeks. When I called our local office he said they sent me 4 letters requested our W-2′s..I said the only letter I ever got was this certified today. Apparently something off of our W-2 was entered wrong..but the incomes he gave me off mine didn’t match my W-2. I have no idea what to do..no refund =( we owe money we didn’t know about and we’re getting charged late charges for something we knew nothing about..
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