Posted on Wed Jul 9, 09:52 PM in Livin'
Tax forms are taxing.
Who knew that in July I’d still be waiting for my state tax return?
We get our taxes prepared by someone who lives in Michigan. As such, he is only allowed to efile our federal tax returns; we must mail in our state returns. On his paperwork, there is the usual statement along the lines of “… sign and date the state forms and place in the envelope provided, apply the correct postage… we recommend sending out by certified mail.” I’m cheap and never do this, because I’ve never had a problem.
I mailed out both of our returns the morning of March 31st. I had them weighed and stamped correctly so I know they wouldn’t come back marked “INSUFFICIENT POSTAGE.” The website says to allow 8-12 weeks after I mail my forms to receive my return.
Ten weeks went by and the SO received his return. Twelve weeks went by and I still hadn’t received mine. So, using the internet form for such requests, I sent information to the DOR, asking them if they had received my return, what I needed to do if they had not, and where the heck my return was if they DID have my forms. The next day I received the following email:
Thank you for you inquiry.
If you mailed your return in, please allow 12-16 weeks for the return to be scanned into the system.
If you (or your spouse’s, if applicable) social security number has been certified as owing a debt to a State agency, your refund will be delayed and additional 2 weeks.
If you do not hear from us within that time frame, feel free to re-contact our department at (608)266-2772 Monday – Friday, 7:45am – 4:30pm or by email https://ww2.revenue.wi.gov/internet/refund.html
Thank You,
LoToya Murray
Customer Service Representative
Wisconsin Department of Revenue
Get your refund sooner – avoid delays with your return!
File electronically at no cost through
Freefile at http://www.revenue.wi.gov/
Hm. None of my questions were answered, how surprising. Just a very non-personal response with an unbelievable theory (oh yeah, scanning!).
That was two weeks ago. Today, after waiting by the mailbox and checking online, I finally called. After waiting an additional 24 minutes on hold for the next available customer service rep, I actually talked to a real live person about this problem. This person confirmed that no, my information was not in the system and was likely not going to be unless I re-filed a duplicate copy of my taxes. If I wanted to, I could fax it in… but you know, I just didn’t feel right faxing tax information. I had a big enough problem confirming my information over the phone for identification purposes.
So, I need to gather my copies together, make copies of those, and send them in again, THIS TIME BY CERTIFIED MAIL, DAMMIT. And then, assuming everything goes “correctly,” I get to wait another 6 weeks.
The punchline? I probably should have guessed something like this would happen. The amount I am due from the state of Wisconsin is $666.
Perhaps it wasn’t so much the scanning itself that seemed unbelievable, but the idea that they needed a 4 week window. Like, you’d think that the original window of 8-12 weeks after mailing would include the needed scanning time. And if I would have waited 4 weeks and inquired again, I would have been told “Please allow an additional 4 weeks to have the summer temps wander the huge microfiche hallways to retrieve your cartridge, print it, and walk it back up to the customer service department.”
I worked for WPS one summer in college doing nothing but sitting at an old microfiche reader (one of the old behemoths that was 4 feet high and 3 feet wide) printing out claims for 8 hours a day…. so perhaps this shouldn’t surprise me.