KATV promised a Seven on Your Side installment last night on delays in Arkansas income tax refunds this year.

No link on their website yet, but a taxpayer who was interested in the story sent a complaint about his experience to me. He reports his experience in past years of a refund two or three days after acceptance of his return. This year, he’s been told that response times have been extended because of identity theft. For the first time, he said, he received a federal refund before a state refund. At last report, he was told he could expect a state refund 14 business days, or almost three weeks, after acceptance of the state return.

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I note that the state Department of Finance and Administration monthly report on state tax revenue said that net available money was greater than expected at the end of February because individual tax refunds were $25 million below forecast. The report blamed this on delays in IRS processing of returns “and longer processing times for additional fraud checks of refund requests.”

I don’t know why IRS procedures would have an impact on state income tax returns. I hope to find out more about the additional fraud checks.

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Anybody else with state tax filing experiences to report? I’ve just begun the slog of compilation and I won’t bore you with my immense displeasure with Turbotax.

UPDATE: Here’s a link to the KATV report.

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