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Where the heck is my tax refund check?

Oceanview
#1
Anyone still waiting to receive an income tax refund check from PR?聽 We filed our tax US and PR tax returns well before the April 15th deadline.聽 They were prepared by a local CPA firm, yet we have yet to receive a refund check from PR.聽 We have no idea how to check on the status of our refund, if we will actually receive payment due to the economic crisis or how much longer it could take.聽 In the US we were always able to check status on the IRS website or phone an 800聽 number.聽 Any advice?

Also, due to the length of time it takes to receive refunds, would any of that work recommend that we do NOT have any taxes withheld, except those required by the US?聽 I would prefer to have to pay PR income taxes next April versus not knowing if or when we'd get a refund.聽 After all, we do not expect the economy crisis to improve over the next few years.
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K
#2
Can you not get a hold of your CPA?

The govt has stated that it could be around the October for the next round of returns. A lot, if not most ppl are on the same boat as you are, including myself. Last year they paid us 2 days before the due date and played the "you filled out your return wrong/you didn't include your forms, etc etc" game that went on for months. Same thing this year. We are impeccable when it comes to taxes, just a fact.聽 You can call the number on their website, there is an english option but dont be surprised if you get disconnected after being on hold.

We tried to pay as little as possible after the first year fiasco, so yes, I would recommend the same.
We're moving WHERE?
#3
You might have forgotten that the PR gvt is bankrupt and just defaulted on billions in loans... Doubt any of us are getting a refund.
ReyP
#4

We're moving WHERE? wrote:

You might have forgotten that the PR gvt is bankrupt and just defaulted on billions in loans... Doubt any of us are getting a refund.


If that were to happen I think they would apply your refund toward next year taxes I think. However it still would not be right, a lot of people do count on their refund.

1 member reacted to this post
We're moving WHERE?
#5
It's this damn PPD administration that's doing what it wants... They need Federal oversight urgently.聽 I frankly have little hope of getting $ back.. I would be happy with a credit!
ReyP
#6
Here are some numbers mostly based on guesses on my part.
We have 3.5 million people, if half of those spend 3,000 a year in taxable purchases and the sales tax is 11.5, then the government will be taking in about 604 million in sales tax.

Assuming 1,750,000 work and make an average of 14,400 a year with a tax of 8% the government take would only be around 2 billion

Not sure how you pay 73 billion deb with 2.6 billion in income. Or maybe my numbers are completly off.
adlin20
#7
I just read in the local newspaper (El Nuevo Dia), that the returns may last until November, they are sending checks every Friday but they are still over 200k returns to process. They started with the smallest amounts and now are mixing it up with the ones that are over $2k and up. So it may take some time to get yours....
CM_Lykins
#8
Any more news on refund checks?聽 It is early October and I still do not have mine.
We're moving WHERE?
#9
BTW: if you are still working, be sure to change your withholding to 0聽 ,.... don't give them anything you don't have to.
adlin20
#10
CM, Last I read they are still sending checks as money comes available. The secretary said they will not be done until next year issuing refunds. There is a group that have an active law suit to the government, but don't hold your breath.
K
#11
We haven't gotten ours. I would be interested to know if anyone at all has received theirs. Btw, our employer stated the law doesn't allow you to pay less than 7%, I haven't found anything to the contrary but if there is a way around it I would like to know. In addition the govt is supposed to pay interest rates on late returns IF there weren't any "mathematical errors" on your end. Well, guess what? For the last two years they have been claiming we had mathematical errors when there were absolutely none. Also, both years we attempted to file electronically but their website always failed. Has anyone had success filing online?
adlin20
#12
Increasing the number of dependents will decrease you tax % taken out. But be careful, I had a friend that did that once and had to pay over what he expected.
fredfast
#13
I paid the federal part of my income tax in April but have yet to receive my Puerto Rican refund which is almost the exact same amount. I think that the federal government has some responsibility here and should wait for their payment until the Puerto Rican refund is received, especially since I was working on a federal project in San Juan. I will have to do the same for 2015 and if the Puerto Rican refund is not received by then, can it be claimed against my federal return?
ReyP
#14
:dumbom: The money is well spend by now in the Naguabo boardwalk. You just have to wait for the goverment to sell a few more billions in bonds and refunds will flow.
1 member reacted to this post
We're moving WHERE?
#15
Please don't hold your breath....
CM_Lykins
#16
I do not have my refund yet either!聽 My company pays for tax preparation and they always do it late, so PR taxes were filed in July.聽 I have a $3,000+ refund pending.

I聽 am now back in the states and will have one partial year of income to file (2015 Jan thru Jul). So I will have to deal with this one more time.

(I enjoyed my PR friends and experiences but I am SOOOO glad to be back home)
ReyP
#17

CM_Lykins wrote:

I do not have my refund yet either!聽 My company pays for tax preparation and they always do it late, so PR taxes were filed in July.聽 I have a $3,000+ refund pending.

I聽 am now back in the states and will have one partial year of income to file (2015 Jan thru Jul). So I will have to deal with this one more time.

(I enjoyed my PR friends and experiences but I am SOOOO glad to be back home)


It should be in your hands sometime in 2017.

Small refunds have higher priority when short of cash according to the governor.

fredfast
#18
So smaller refunds for the tax year 2015 will be paid before larger refunds for the tax year 2014?
ReyP
#19

fredfast wrote:

So smaller refunds for the tax year 2015 will be paid before larger refunds for the tax year 2014?


Maybe, they may not pay 2015 large refunds until a year from now or more. They are constantly robbing Peter to Pay Paul until the mess is sorted out and they can restructure the Debt.

fredfast
#20
Since Puerto Rico is not a sovereign country, and the US has so far failed to bail them out, I think that whatever is owed in refunds should be declared聽 a loss on federal income taxes or the US should make 'good' on whatever is owed. After all this money is not an investment as are bonds which seems to be a priority. This is money over taxed from employees. Sounds like material for a class action lawsuit.
ReyP
#21
Not sure, but I think the law says that if the money is not returned by a certain date, PR needs to pay some interest plus the principal.Not sure if there is a max date by which they absolutely have to pay you back.

All taxes taken from your pay checks and bonuses are loans to the government including the US. This is why a lot of people crank up the number of dependants in the W4 form so the amount taken out is as close as possible to what you have to pay at the end of the year. This way they can expend the money or invest it instead of loaning it to Uncle Sam or PR.
fredfast
#22
So it looks like I'll be filing a Puerto Rican tax return for 2015 before I receive my refund for 2014. That should double the amount they owe me. I am not optimistic about ever seeing it. I don't consider it a loan. It is my money they are using to pay investors. I am not an investor and using it for that purpose is criminal.
ReyP
#23
The one big problem with dealing with the government is that if something they are doing is illegal, they have the option of making it legal.
fredfast
#24
That's ex post facto. There is no information regarding the last date that they must pay a refund before interest kicks in or how much interest they must pay. I can't find any information. Not even from the residents.
ReyP
#25
This is all governments, not just PR, Aint life grand???
If you write checks that bounce, you can end up in Jail, if the government writes checks that bounce, they tell you to wait a few months and try again.
if you don't pay your taxes on time, you get heavily penalised, if they fail to give you the return on time, they may pay some DIMINUTIVE interest.
If you cheat on your taxes likely you will end up in jain, if they cheat you out of money, they ask you send them a letter and they will correct the error, assuming that it is an error on their part and not yours.

A lot of people in government of many countries have immunity for their actions while in office so you can not prosecute them no matter how bad. You don't have that.

For some reason there is people that trust their governments, not sure why.
K
#26
Just an FYI, we finally got our return a couple of days ago.
ReyP
#27
Wow it only took about 10 months!!!
Congratulations!
fredfast
#28
Did you receive interest?
K
#29
Nope. They claimed we had mathematical errors (there were zero errors) in our return. That is their "out" for paying interest in their minds, sending us a piece of paper claiming there were errors. Last year they said we didn't include our employers forms, again, we did that, it's all just tactics to prolong the process.
ReyP
#30
So did you do federal and PR (state)?
Was this the first full year in PR?
Not sure if you are old enough, was SSN payments to you subject to taxes?
K
#31
2014 was our 2nd full year. Nope, not in that age bracket yet.
C
#32
Has anyone tried the new online system? I'm having trouble registering on it as a PEL (electronic payment) because it's having trouble "finding my record"
K
#33
We have had trouble using their "online system"聽 for the last two years. I don't think they want us using it. Seriously though, if you are using it for the first time you will not be in their system and will have to file "analog". Our second year didn't bring any better results, we're hoping the third year will be the charm.
fredfast
#34
I've heard that they release refunds by the smaller amounts first. My refund in in excess of 8 grand. I don't mean to pry but was yours higher or lower than that. Of course I understand if you wish not to answer.
Oceanview
#35
My return is just below $8,000 and I have not received my refund. I file tax returns through a local CPA suggested by our banks investment manager.聽 We've been assured that their are no mistakes on our tax forms so the delay is on the PR a government.
C
#36
To clarify, I meant for 2016. The new requirements are online only and I wanted to see if others were having trouble for the online part
fredfast
#37
What are the odds of filing a class action lawsuit for those of us who have not received our refunds. They'd probably tell us to get in line. It's ridiculous that some of us have to file for the 2015 tax year without receiving our refunds for 2014. It will probably double the amount they owe me. I hear that you can claim a non-business bad debt on your federal return if the refund is delayed a long time but it won't satisfy the original amount. What a mess.
ReyP
#38
I just read that all 2014 refunds will be out before the end of March. Nothing about interest was stated in the news.

I bet they are using the money from payments to the government for 2015 to pay back 2014 refunds.
fredfast
#39
If you don't mind me asking, where did you get that information? I've been looking all over the internet but can't find anything.
ReyP
#40
Spanishs news paper

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