Kansas Suspends Income Tax Refunds

[KatWrangler]

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/content...xvV2Fyoog.cspx

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Kansas has suspended income tax refunds and may not be able to pay employees on time, the state's budget director said Monday.

[Drummer's Wife]

oh, wow. how awful

[nolansmummy]

I guess i'm glad i got mine already. That sucks for everyone else though, especially the employees not getting paid.

[p1gg1e]

sadly this is probably going to get more popular and next year might have more states on the list

[ollineeba]

Wow.. sad for those who were counting on that money.

[library lady]

I am so glad we got our taxes for Kansas done and already got the refund. I will have to pass this information along since I have quite a few family members that might be impacte.

[LVale]

My heart goes out to those of you who live in Kansas and California, you have to wonder where did the money go?

[KatWrangler]

We haven't filed yet.

[Ola_]

That is so terrible - can they really do that? In essence they have the money that you paid and they owe you, can they really just not pay you back? But at the same time they are still collecting money from people who owe it, right?

[jeliphish]

I'm really getting mad about the state's irresponsibility with money. We need a revolution...another Boston tea party

[JTA Mom]

Originally Posted by Ola_

That is so terrible - can they really do that? In essence they have the money that you paid and they owe you, can they really just not pay you back? But at the same time they are still collecting money from people who owe it, right?

That money is long gone, Ola. Spent away somewhere. And yes, of course they are still collecting money from those who owe them--I mean, those people don't get to not pay them back, that wouldn't be fair, would it?:

Ami

[mightymoo]

Originally Posted by JTA Mom

That money is long gone, Ola. Spent away somewhere. And yes, of course they are still collecting money from those who owe them--I mean, those people don't get to not pay them back, that wouldn't be fair, would it?:

Ami

Well you could argue that the money coming in is needed to pay those owed.

[KatWrangler]

Originally Posted by JTA Mom

That money is long gone, Ola. Spent away somewhere. And yes, of course they are still collecting money from those who owe them--I mean, those people don't get to not pay them back, that wouldn't be fair, would it?:

Ami

I see you are in Cali. You guys have your own problems! We use to live in Southern Cal too.

[JTA Mom]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

Well you could argue that the money coming in is needed to pay those owed.

Yea, but I seriously doubt that the reason for budgetary problems in tax refunds. Not to mention the state should technically NOT be touching that money since it doesn't belong to them. It's just easier to push off debt repayments for now. Personally I'd like to see both Kansas & California's elected officials taking a hold on all paychecks until the budget is balanced rather than holding people's money. It's their job to do this, they haven't, so they shouldn't get paid until they do.

Ami

[Delicateflower]

Originally Posted by JTA Mom

Not to mention the state should technically NOT be touching that money since it doesn't belong to them. It's just easier to push off debt repayments for now.

Isn't it your responsibility to pay the right amount of tax first up? They can't know that you paid too much.

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

This is not good, i am sure some people were relying on that money to be coming back to them...That said we are one of the families that owe the state of Kansas again this year, so it doesn't affect us directly, but i am sure there are many people we know that will be affected.

[rebeccalynn]

Wow, that really stinks.: This reinforces our decision to try to "redo" our estimated taxes throughout the year and try to get as close to $0 owed/refunded as possible.

[Jenelle]

Originally Posted by JTA Mom

Not to mention the state should technically NOT be touching that money since it doesn't belong to them.

They have no way of knowing who has overpaid and who hasn't paid enough. They get the money, they use it. In a well-run system, however, it should never be a problem to issue a refund to those who overpaid. :

Thanks, OP, we have family in Kansas and I am sure this will affect them.

[llamalluv]

Originally Posted by Ola_

That is so terrible - can they really do that? In essence they have the money that you paid and they owe you, can they really just not pay you back? But at the same time they are still collecting money from people who owe it, right?

Yep. They sure can. The problem I see with that policy, however, is that many people will be changing their W-4s (and state equivalent) to have as little as possible withheld from their checks. I know I'd rather owe the state than be expecting a refund and have to wait for it because the government doesn't know how to budget.

And that is only going to exacerbate the problem.

[WC_hapamama]

I'm not sure that it's the same in Kansas, but here in CA, they can only hold the income tax returns until a certain date... May 30th or something like that.