The state tax department is once again issuing tax refunds.
Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger says refunds were halted last Thursday in response to fraudulent tax filings through Turbo Tax and other electronic filing software. They have been resumed today. Rauschenberger says the tax department is working harder to determine that refunds are not issued to fraudulent filers, and asks that taxpayers be patient while waiting for their refunds.
"We have a number of security checks in place where we can try and verify data, look for oddities in tax filings, and that will kick out a tax filing for us to look at and investigate fraud. If we do believe that we have a fraudulent return that's been submitted using someone else's information, we will attempt to contact the actual taxpayer and work to verify whether or not they filed that return."
Rauschenberger says despite the fraudulent tax filings, electronically filing your taxes is still by far the best method. He says e-filing can help get you your refund faster, and by filing early you can avoid someone fraudulently filing for your tax return.