Michigan income tax tool leaves many irate
Taxpayers’ ire increases over ‘Where’s My Refund’ website
Michigan taxpayers are becoming increasingly frustrated with why they cannot seem to get straight answers from a touch-and-go state income tax “Where’s My Refund?” website.
I won’t share the colorful language I read in an email over breakfast that one reader used to describe the quality of her experience. But let’s just say, she was not a happy camper.
The reader who emailed me Tuesday morning said the Michigan “Where’s My Refund?” site seemed to work a couple of days last week but “now nothing.”
The reader said the site indicated what forms have been already filed, and then gave the beginnings of a chart for a status update. But she has no idea when the state income tax refund will get to her.
Ron Leix, a Michigan Treasury spokesperson, told me that the state’s “eServices system is experiencing synchronization delays due to high volumes.”
Volumes are up because many early filers are wondering about their state income tax refunds for their 2023 income tax returns. On top of that, hundreds of thousands of others are wondering when they will receive extra supplemental refunds for 2022 returns that are being sent out this year to working class families.
The reader who emailed Tuesday is trying to get a better idea for when she’d receive a state income tax refund that amounts to more than $1,500. She filed her 2023 return on Feb. 6. She said she needs that refund cash to catch up on bills.
This year, Michigan taxpayers seem to be more upset than usual, particularly about what seem like long waits for refund cash and the lack of clarity on what’s going on here. One taxpayer claimed on social media Tuesday to be waiting “four weeks and four days” for a Michigan income tax refund.
The eServices site for individual income tax returns has added some banners now warning of potential delays. Yet taxpayers earlier were hitting social media with questions and jamming up the Treasury’s phone lines.
One warning now posted online states: “If you previously received the status of your 2023 return as ‘completed’ on eServices or the automated voice response system, and it is no longer available, please be advised the return is still in process and should be completed within the next 2 weeks.”
Leix said Tuesday that some taxpayers “may not see status information when checking eServices for the latest details about their returns and refunds.”
While the system has its glitches, the state maintains that tax refunds aren’t going to face extra delays in processing because of what you see or don’t see on the eServices tool.
“The eServices synchronizing delay does not affect the processing of tax returns or the issuing of refunds or supplemental checks,” Leix said. “It’s an information resource.”
Unfortunately, many readers are complaining about the lack of timely information.
He said taxpayers now are told to allow three weeks to four weeks for e-filed returns and six to eight weeks for paper-filed returns before using eServices to check your return or refund status.
Typically, you’d need to wait two weeks from the date you received confirmation that your Michigan state income tax return was accepted via e-file before you can check for any information about your refund.
“We had previously advised to wait two weeks — and knocked it back to three to four,” Leix said Tuesday. “Volumes are very high right now and we want to manage expectations.”
Leix tried to explain some of the problem with eServices to me.
The state’s eServices program or online “Where’s My Refund?” tool, he said, runs separately from processing returns.
“It pulls status information from the processing process — but it’s not keeping up with all the processing going on,” he said.
The state treasury, he said, will process a bunch of 2023 return batches over a weekend. But it will take a couple more days to synchronize that information in the eServices system.
“If we process over the weekend, the true status of the return and refund won’t show up until later in the week,” Leix said.
Both the state and federal income tax season kicked off officially Jan. 29, which was roughly a week later than last year’s start. That’s the date that the Internal Revenue Service and the Michigan Department of Treasury began accepting and processing electronically filed individual income tax returns.
But Michigan has some unique challenges this year, following key changes in the state’s tax rules.
Michigan’s Legislature passed the tax rule changes in early 2023, including an improved earned income tax credit for families of modest means that was retroactive to 2022. Those new rules went into place Feb. 13.
Currently, Michigan continues to send out extra cash to working class households that filed 2022 returns and qualified for the earned income credit. The state’s earned income tax credit originally was worth 6% of the amount that a tax filer had qualified to receive under the federal earned income tax credit. But the new state law bumped the percentage up to 30%.
Supplemental checks for 2022 — which will be an average of $618 per recipient — started being sent out Feb. 13 to make up the difference. The state expects to send out checks to some 700,000 households.
As of Tuesday, the Michigan Treasury said it has issued 450,000 supplemental checks for the 2022 tax year involving the adjustment related to the Michigan earned income tax credit. Everyone isn’t set to receive an extra check at the same time. These checks are being sent out through March.
The changes to Michigan’s earned income tax credit mean that many families will be receiving a great deal more money when they file their 2023 state income tax returns. So, it’s logical that many might have filed early in the season and likely are eagerly awaiting their refunds.
Leix said a high volume of activity has been triggered on the eServices site, thanks to both processing 2023 tax year individual income tax returns and issuing of supplemental checks for the 2022 tax year for the earned income tax credit.
He stated in an email to the Free Press: “The Michigan Department of Treasury apologizes to taxpayers who are encountering issues when checking the status of their returns and refunds. We ask that taxpayers please be patient. If they find no updates early in the week, please check back in a few days. The status should be refreshed.”
Don’t try to use eServices to figure out when you’re going to receive a supplemental check or how big it might be.
Taxpayers, Leix said, can determine how much they will receive for the supplemental check by taking the amount on Line 27b where the earned income tax credit is listed on their 2022 MI-1040 return and multiplying it by 4.
Michigan’s eServices and the “Where’s My Refund?” tool cannot be used to learn the status of your 2022 supplemental check for the Michigan earned income tax credit. If a taxpayer has questions about their 2022 tax year Michigan ETIC supplemental check, they can go to www.michigan.gov/2022eitc for some quick answers.
When it comes to the 2023 state income tax returns, you can check the status of your state income tax refund by going online to find updates. Again, you’ll need to understand that the system itself has some delays. See michigan.gov/taxes/iit/ refund.
Michigan “Where’s My Refund? tool tracks state income tax refunds but requires the following: The Social Security number of the initial person or primary filer listed on that tax return, the primary filer’s last name, the tax year for the refund being tracked, the exact adjusted gross income or total household resources listed on that return and you need to know the filing status checked on the return. The Michigan Department of Treasury also has a phone number to call for information about individual income tax returns, which is 517-636-4486. The phone number can be busy at different times, so you may need to call more than once.