Delayed Michigan tax refunds leave residents waiting months

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FLINT, Mich. - Some Michigan taxpayers are still waiting for their state income tax refunds months after filing, even as the Michigan Department of Treasury says overall processing is keeping pace with previous years.
The Treasury says it has processed more than five million individual income tax returns. Still, roughly 5 percent of Michigan filers have not yet received their refunds.
Lorie Powers is among those still waiting. She said she filed her taxes in March and, as of mid-June, had not received her state refund.
“The federal came in, back refund came back in two weeks, about two weeks after filing. And I still don't have the state refund,” Powers said.
Powers said she has used the same direct deposit account for about 12 years and said nothing was different about her taxes this year. “There wasn't anything unique about it,” she said.
Powers said she was counting on the refund earlier in the spring. “I've needed that money. I was banking on getting that back up in March, by the end of March. Now I'm hoping by the end of July that they'll come through with it,” she said.
She said she has tried repeatedly to contact the Treasury for answers and that's why she called Mid-Michigan NOW.
“I've called them, well, I've called many times and you can't get through. When I have gotten through, the lines are busy and you need to call another time. And then I've done their e-messaging a lot,” Powers said.
Powers’ messages through the online portal went unanswered until June 11. The response acknowledged her request for information on her return, but did not provide a definitive answer on when she would receive her refund.
A Treasury spokesperson said state law prevents the department from discussing an individual’s tax return. The spokesperson said returns that remain unprocessed generally fall into categories including missing or incorrect information, identity verification requirements, higher-than-typical complexities with multiple schedules or credits, or cases where a refund must be offset to address a potential debt or court-ordered garnishment. The spokesperson said Treasury continues processing returns from previous and current tax years, as well as returns with extensions, throughout the year.
The Michigan Department of Treasury also said it replaced a 40-year-old system at the end of last year.
Powers said she expected any issues to have been resolved. “I would have hoped that they would have worked out their glitches. I don't know, been running systems simultaneously or whatever, so that they wouldn't have hundreds of thousands of people waiting for a refund. I never expected anything like this,” she said.
The Treasury said it is aware of problems with people getting through on its phone system, saying the system cannot handle the demand. The department said there are plans to update the phone system next month.
Powers said she is still waiting for her refund.