Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana lawmakers on Thursday approved expanding the number of people eligible for anticipated $125 payments this spring under the state’s automatic taxpayer refund law.
Those payments are being made because of a big jump in state tax collections helped by federal COVID-19 relief funding. That revenue jump pushed up the state government cash reserves to a record $3.9 billion as of June 30, triggering the taxpayer refund law for the first time since 2012.
Indiana House members voted 88-0 to join the Senate in approving a bill modifying the law so that about 450,000 people who don’t have enough income to owe any state taxes are also eligible for the refund payments.
Officials say those residents should also be eligible for the refund since they pay sales and other taxes.
The bill now goes to Gov. Eric Holcomb, who proposed the eligibility expansion in December.
State officials have said they anticipate the refund payments totaling about $545 million will be made by direct deposit or mailed checks depending on how taxpayers files their state tax returns. Those payments are expected to be sent to an estimated 4.3 million people before May 1.
Approval of the expanded refund eligibility comes as push by House Republicans for major individual business and tax cuts has faced resistance in the Senate. The Senate’s tax committee this week turned down a House proposal that would potentially cut more than $1 billion a year in various business and individual income taxes.
Republican Senate leaders have said they’re worried about uncertainty in the economy. Key parts of the House plan would cut Indiana’s current individual income tax rate of 3.23% to 3% over the next four years, along with reducing several business taxes.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
If the state follows the federal way of disbursing these funds to those who don’t file taxes, that means it will almost cost them more to collect the refund than it’s worth.
Since the amounts used in your state taxes rely heavily on your Federal taxes, you will have to fill out a Federal tax form to find those amounts. Then you will need to complete your state tax form (having zero tax to pay) to collect the $125. Since most tax preparers charge for completing the state taxes, you will either have to complete the form yourself, or pay to have it done.
(Of course, knowing the State of Indiana, they will probably make the $125 taxible income next filing year.)
It seems to me, there ought to be an easier way without burdening these folks further.