Clock ticking on 1.3 million waiting to file tax returns
It is now getting close to procrastination time. Both state and federal income taxes this year are due on April 17 — and with two weeks to go, nearly 1.3 million tax filers out of an estimated 3.4 million have yet to file their MA income tax.
That’s about 40 percent of all the tax returns DOR expects to receive for tax year 2011.
It’s not unusual; at this time a year ago, 71,000 fewer taxpayers had filed.
Massachusetts tax returns are due on April 17 because April 15 is a Sunday and April 16 is Patriot’s Day. Federal tax returns are due April 17 because April 16 is Emancipation Day, a holiday celebrated in the District of Columbia that closes government offices in D.C.
As of April 2, more than 2.12 million tax returns had been filed, 70,491 more than at the same point a year ago.
Nearly 87 percent of all returns have been filed electronically, up slightly from 86 percent a year ago.
More than 1.6 million taxpayers have received refunds averaging $469; a year ago more than 1.5 million taxpayers had received refunds averaging $471,
The amount of refunds paid is $766.45 million, more than the $745.13 million paid at the same point a year ago.
The average electronic refund is sent within three business days while the average paper return refund is sent in five days; those are essentially the same as last year.
-MASS DOR
