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Some of those New Yorkers are now out of work due to the virus and are waiting on thousands of dollars in refunds as the state’s Tax Department takes its time to issue checks.
With tens of thousands out of work, any wage-earners have been given an extension to file federal and local taxes, through Wednesday, July 15.
Many of those waiting for their refund checks have been waiting weeks after filing their taxes earlier this year.
Others who filed last month reportedly have found messages from the Tax Department online that simply says, “We received your return and it may require further review. This may result in your New York State return taking longer to process than your federal return. No further information is available at this time.”
The Tax Department reportedly said that it’s actively processing returns, and despite the COVID-19 outbreak, they said they are “very close” to what they would be “under normal circumstances.”
Two weeks ago, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered non-essential employees to work from home, including the Tax Department , which reduced the number of staff in its offices by at least 80 percent to curtail the spread of COVID-19.
To date, despite working with a skeleton crew, the Department has processed more than seven million returns, issuing millions in refunds. There has also been similar complaints from New Yorkers who have been unable to apply for unemployment insurance.
“I apologize for the pain — it must be infuriating to deal with,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said this week. “The (sites are) so deluged that they keep crashing because you literally have hundreds of thousands of people at any time trying to get on the sites.”
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