I usually get mine sometime in August, even though they are due on April 15th, like the rest of taxes. So, why the long wait? Does the IRS simply process all of the other taxes first before moving on to the renters’ rebate forms, or is this a big plot for the government to keep our money interest-free for the longest period possible?
I don’t know why your refund took so long to process, but I doubt that it has anything to do with the fact that you’re a renter. Do you know of other renters who have gotten their refunds delayed, or are you just making a sweeping generalization.
If you wait until April 15th to file, you will have a longer delay, because the IRS is swamped with tax returns and can only crank out so many refunds per day.
The best way to get a speedy refund is to:[ol]
[li]File early. If you don’t owe taxes, there’s no reason that you can’t get all your paperwork together and have your return done sometime in February.[/li][li]File electronically. This saves processing time because some minimum wage IRS employee doesn’t have to take your return and enter it into a computer.[/li][li]Have your refund “direct deposited” into your bank account. Again, saves processing time because they don’t have to physically print and mail a check to you.[/li][/ol]
Since I’ve been doing this, I’ve never had to wait more than 3 weeks for the refund to show up in my bank account.
I have filed early and don’t think I’m making a sweeping generalization. It’s been this way for years, at least in this state. The renters’ rebate check only comes to me in August while all of the other refunds come months and months earlier.
I can’t imagine that the IRS differentiates between income tax refunds from homeowners vs ones from renters. I mean, how do they even know that I’m a renter. (The address does include an apartment number, but it could be from a condo rather than a rental apartment.)
Isn’t renters rebate a state thing and not a federal thing? So it is not the IRS but you state that you should complain about.
I do believe the OP is talking about a specific tax rebate (as gazpacho says, it’s actually a state thing) that comes in the form of a check, and not an income tax refund check sent to the address of a renter as opposed to a homeowner.
Sorry. I had never heard of a “renters rebate” program, and was reading the OP as, “Why does the IRS process refunds to renters after they’re done with everyone else?”
I’ll go back and mind my own business now.
In California, renter’s rebate checks take a long time to come out because the money for them is appropriated separately by the State Legislature. The Franchise Tax Board in California can’t spend the money until they are specifically given authorization. The whole program is essentially remade from scratch each year.
What is a renter’s rebate?
In California, certain people qualify for a rebate for money paid out as rent (no more than $347 I believe) if their income is below a certain level and they meet other qualifications.
I looked at the MN IRS website a few weeks ago, and when I clicked “check refund status” it said something about how by law the refunds couldn’t be sent out before August. I checked just now and it said that it would be processed by 8/15.
I don’t know the exact reason behind this, but I assume it has to do with all the complicated laws that revolve around property tax in general.
Maybe because the IRS has nothing whatsoever to do with the State of Minnesota’s Renter rebate program?
Hint, try the State’s Dep’t of Revenue or whatever Minn calls it. 