State begins issuing income tax refunds

Louisiana's Department of Revenue began issuing state income tax refunds Friday after delaying the process to take extra precautions against fraud, Secretary Tim Barfield said Tuesday.

The state's delay came following a rash of fraudulent state tax returns being file electronically across the country.

Specifically, in February Turbo Tax suspended for a day its customers' ability to file state returns because the tax-preparation software company found an increase in criminal activity where stolen personal data was used to file fake state returns.

"We were extra cautious following the news about Turbo Tax, and then rumors about hacking into tax preparers' information," Barfield said. "We went through a couple of hundred thousand returns and to a large extent we believe we were able to protect ourselves and the identities of our taxpayers."

During the past two year Barfield said his agency has prevented more than $11 million fraudulent tax refunds from going out the door. Forty people have also been arrested for fraudulent activity through a joint initiative with the state Attorney General's Office.

Still, Barfield said he regretted delaying the refunds at all.

"We recognize that this situation placed an undeserved burden on the thousands of taxpayers who consistently do the right thing," he said.

Taxpayers who have concerns about the security of their personal information provided to any third party tax preparation software vendor should contact that vendor immediately.

The revenue department began accepting returns Jan. 20 and was originally scheduled to begin issuing refunds Feb. 24. The department typically processes 1.9 million electronic returns during the tax filing season.

The backlog of refund requests received is expected to take a week to complete processing, Barfield said. Once the department is current, normal processing times of 21 days for electronic returns and 10 weeks for paper returns can be expected.

Follow Greg Hilburn on Twitter @GregHilburn1

Report fraud

Taxpayers who have a reason to believe they may be a victims of identity theft can contact LDR's Criminal Investigations Division on its fraud hotline at 1-866-940-7053. They can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov/complaint.

Where's my refund?

Taxpayers can check the status of a refund by visiting www.revenue.louisiana.gov/refund.