Official: Expect state tax refund delays

By Marc Kovac | February 13, 2015 at 12:02a.m.

COLUMBUS

The head of the Ohio Department of Taxation continues to warn Ohioans there could be delays in getting state tax refunds this year due to increased efforts to combat scammers.

Tax Commissioner Joe Testa said the state has been flooded with fraudulent requests for refunds — the number has grown from about 10,000 per year to more than 60,000 last year.

As such, Ohio filers this year may be asked to provide additional information and take a quiz to prove their identity before refunds are issued.

“This is not fun,” Testa said. “Put myself in their place; would I like to have to answer a quiz to get my own money back? Of course not. But, again, these are necessary steps that we believe we have to take to protect the treasury.”

Ohioans tagged for the identity-confirmation quiz will receive a letter from the Ohio Department of Taxation providing further instructions.

Taxpayers without online access can complete the process through the mail or over the phone, though state officials acknowledged there have been long waits on hold because of the large number of people trying to contact the tax department.

The additional process means refunds could take up to 15 days to be direct- deposited into bank accounts and up to 30 days for checks to be mailed.

The setup drew questions from lawmakers, who say they’ve heard from constituents who are having difficulties maneuvering the identity-confirmation process.

Rep. Doug Green, R-Mount Orab, said, “I’m getting comments and emails from my constituents talking about how the letter didn’t prepare them for the online survey, questions such as when did your son sell his car 10 years ago, those types of things, that they were unprepared for and with the added pressure of waiting for a real-life person to talk with and finally giving up and having great concerns about loss of their returns.”

Testa responded, “If we don’t put greater barriers in the way, we’re going to lose hundreds of millions of dollars to thieves, and we’re committed to stopping that.”