SO WOULD THIS BE A GOOD EXCUSE TO PAY YOUR OWN TAXES LATE? State says hold on tight for your tax refund. “Raleigh, N.C. — Dwindling revenue and a widening budget shortfall mean that North Carolina taxpayers will wait longer for their tax refunds, Secretary of Revenue Kenneth Lay said Thursday.”
Well, there’s their problem: Secretary of Revenue Ken Lay? Heh. I actually double-checked to be sure this wasn’t some kind of cruel joke. Especially when I saw this paragraph:
“We have a temporary backlog due to the fact that we’re having difficulty garnering funds that we’re using to manage cash flow,” he said.
A “temporary backlog due to the fact that we’re having difficulty garnering funds that we’re using to manage cash flow.” Uh huh. It’s flowing out faster than it’s flowing in. Well, I’m pretty sure it’s a different Ken Lay, but . . . .
Anyway, with all these states having trouble paying tax refunds on time, I think I’d be sure not to overpay. You might not get it back anytime soon. A North Carolina reader emails: “Here is a link to what is going on in my state regarding tax refunds. We haven’t filed yet, although we will be due a refund – which I might add, we were planning on using towards what we will owe the Feds. Think I can tell them to wait while we manage our cash flow?” Good luck with that.
UPDATE: A reader emails:
Great. Just bleepin’ great.
Our state taxes is one area where I haven’t paid much attention — so for the last couple of years, we’ve paid in more than we needed to and have gotten four-figure returns. Including this year.
Eh, nice play money in normal times. But since I got laid off this week, well, it ain’t chump change no more.
It’s not critical, we’re not going to miss any bills or our mortgage because it’s coming later. But holy freakin’ bleepedy %$$^&%$#!!!!
It’s my damn money, not theirs. Yeah, my fault for being too lazy or disinterested to have fixed my withholding so this wouldn’t happen — but it’s still MY DAMN MONEY.
Sorry. Just needed to vent. Oh, and a couple other points.
1) This might make for a good tea party protest at the state level.
2) They might want to be careful. Some of us “too busy to protest because of work” types are suddenly becoming alarmingly un-busy. And alarmingly not very happy about it.
Indeed.