‘Enhanced review’ of returns to stall many NM tax refunds

Some filers expecting money back will have to wait up to 12 weeks

Some New Mexicans will have to wait up to 12 weeks for their state tax refunds this year because of an “enhanced review process” aimed at combating identity theft and fraud, the state Taxation and Revenue Department announced Friday.

The agency also said it is cooperating with U.S. Internal Revenue Service security measures in place for the 2017 tax season.

Not all state returns will be affected, but “if a personal income-tax return shows a potential for refund fraud, that return will likely take longer to process,” according to a news release issued Friday.

“In this age of information, there are many ways for crimi-

nals to steal personal information and use it to try and steal your tax refunds,” said John Monforte, acting secretary of taxation and revenue. “Our department has shifted resources and is placing an emphasis on protecting your personal information and New Mexico tax dollars.”

The department said its extra efforts were due not only to identity theft and refund fraud but also recent breaches involving the federal government and in the public sector.

Last year, the agency drew complaints after it asked thousands of taxpayers to provide more documents and personal information before their refunds could be sent out. In all, it flagged roughly 59,000 personal income-tax returns for closer scrutiny, or about 13 percent of all returns.

The agency said filers can speed up the process if they are “as accurate as possible on their tax forms and … provide all requested information in a timely manner.”

In general, online refund requests will be processed more quickly than those on paper.

The agency says it will contact taxpayers if it needs any additional information from their driver’s licenses or state-issued identification cards.

“If the information is not provided, there could be a significant increase in the processing time of the return,” the release said.

On the federal level, the IRS is required to delay until at least Feb. 15 refunds on any returns claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit, rather than paying those returns immediately. Congress mandated the delay so the IRS would have more time to try to catch fraudulent returns before refunds are paid.

The state tax agency said, “Any taxpayer refund request stopped by the IRS, which has a corresponding refund request in New Mexico, will be held by (the state) until the taxpayer has resolved the IRS stoppage.”

New Mexicans who suspect someone has fraudulently filed a tax return under their name are asked to call the state Taxation and Revenue Department at 1-866-285-2996.