The average
Rhode Island personal income tax refund is up 3.8 percent, to $541 so far this filing season, compared
with $521 at the same point a year ago, early filing season figures show.
The figures
also show that the total number of refunds so far is down 11 percent compared
with the corresponding period a year ago. The reason is that the federal and
state filing seasons got off to a late start this year. That’s because of the
last-minute changes to tax law made by President Barack H. Obama and Congress,
which required computer systems to be reprogrammed and tested.
“The number
of refunds issued, and the aggregate amount of refunds issued, are down so far
because of the delay to the start of the filing season,” said Rhode Island Tax Administrator David M. Sullivan. “The
delay was a consequence of the lengthy ‘fiscal cliff’ debate and the compromise
federal tax law that was enacted in January, which also impacted Rhode Island. Nobody is
surprised by the delay, which was well-publicized. But now that all systems are
go, we fully expect to see our number of refunds – and our aggregate dollar amount
of refunds issued – to increase smartly in the weeks ahead,” Sullivan said.
Filing season 2012
|
Filing season 2013
|
Difference
|
|
Number of refunds
|
186,955
|
166,153
|
- 11.13%
|
Total amount refunded
|
$97,421,657
|
$89,808,037
|
- 7.82%
|
Average refund
|
$521
|
$541
|
+ 3.84%
|
Cumulative figures for tax year
2011 through March 2, 2012, and for tax year 2012 through March 1, 2013.
Figures for each filing season are before interest and offset and do not
include returns for tax years other than those stated.
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