Thanks to Emancipation Day in Washington DC, a holiday celebrated this year on Friday, April 15, federal tax returns are not due until Monday, April 18, which is the Patriots Day holiday in Massachusetts, so state tax returns are due this year on April 19.
About one-third of Massachusetts residents have yet to file their state income tax. As of today, 2.2 million tax returns were in, leaving an estimated 1.1 to 1.2 million returns yet to be filed. This is slightly ahead of last year's pace. Electronic filing of tax returns is up 3 percent, representing 85.3 percent of returns.
The number of refunds (1.7 million) is up 5 percent, while the amount paid in refunds ($800.9 million) is up 3 percent. Slightly more than three of every four returns (77 percent) has received a refund, with the average of $469 down $6 from last year.
Turnaround time for paper returns is 5.4 business days, 1.2 days less than a year ago, while turnaround time for electronic returns is 3.2 business days, an improvement over last year's 3.5 days.
There is a wealth of online information available on tax filing at DOR's website, www.mass.gov/dor, including information on filing your state income tax electronically -- and for free -- using WebFile for Income.
The customer assistance phone lines are open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. at 1-800-392-6089 and 1-617-887-6367.
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Posted by: Federal Taxes 2012 | July 17, 2011 at 11:15 PM