A Source reader still waiting for their 2010 tax refund asks, "Why will no information from the government be announced regarding our tax returns?"
To find out the status of 2010 tax returns, the Source contacted V.I. Internal Revenue Bureau Executive Director Claudette Watson-Anderson. IRB has processed about 24,000 tax refunds and has sent out checks totaling $80 million, using all of its fiscal year 2011 appropriation.
The fiscal and tax years do not line up, and it is now fiscal year 2012.
While another $80 million has been appropriated to pay tax refunds in the current fiscal year, the Finance Department is not releasing funds at present due to the government’s fiscal crisis and no refunds have been issued since fiscal 2012 began at the beginning of October, she said.
Watson-Anderson provided some more detail during Senate committee hearings on St. Croix Wednesday, saying about $30 million in refunds to 14,000 taxpayers remained to be paid. About 30 percent of all the refunds are actually cash payments through the earned income tax credit and child tax credits rather than returning tax overpayments, she said. This means paying the returns is an actual expense to the V.I. Treasury and not just a matter of returning overpayments, she said.
Calls Tuesday to Finance Commissioner Angel Dawson for comment were not returned as of Wednesday evening.
