State income tax refunds to be delayed until March

Posted on January 4, 2016
Tax filing
State income tax refund checks won’t be issued until March 1. (Eric Stock/WJBC)

By Joe Ragusa

BLOOMINGTON – The Illinois Department of Revenue is delaying the state’s income tax refund checks until March 1.

Spokesman Terry Horstman said the delay is because of fraud prevention measures that were implemented last year.

“So that we can better match up information from taxpayers with the information that we’re receiving to ensure the individuals who file the tax returns are who they say they are,” Horstman said.

Horstman said the fraud prevention measures saved the state from paying out $5 million to frauds. He also said the delay has nothing to do with the state budget impasse.

Your tax return can still be filed with the state as early as today and Horstman said the quickest way to get a refund is to file electronically and use direct deposit.

Federal tax refunds will not be affected by this.

Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].

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