HELENA, MT – March 18, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — The Montana Department of Revenue has processed 224,866 individual income tax returns so far for the 2014 tax year including both electronic and paper returns, and has issued 192,895 refunds averaging $405. The total amount refunded to taxpayers is currently over $78 million dollars.
Last year at this time, the department had processed 225,717 electronic and paper individual income tax returns and issued 197,821 refunds averaging $403. Taxpayers who file their state income taxes electronically typically receive their refunds faster than those who file by paper.
Some refunds are taking longer this year due to extra security and review procedures following an increase in fraudulent tax return filings. Since this tax season opened on January 20, the department has blocked 529 fraudulent returns totaling $582,958.
Taxpayers are encouraged to go online to the Department of Revenue website at revenue.mt.gov and visit Where’s My Refund under Taxpayer Access Point. This tool allows taxpayers to check the status of their tax refunds.
If taxpayers need assistance with filing taxes, they can call the department’s call center toll-free at (866) 859-2254, or in Helena at 444-6900. Regular call center hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call center hours will be extended during the last week of tax season. Beginning Saturday, April 11, help will be available from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.; on Monday, April 13 and Tuesday, April 14, hours will be 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.; and on Wednesday, April 15, hours will be 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Walk-in assistance is available at the Department of Revenue’s Helena and Missoula offices. The Helena office is located at 125 North Roberts, east of the Capitol, and the Missoula office is located at 2681 Palmer Street. There are also more than 100 volunteer tax preparation sites around the state through Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and AARP Tax-Aide Montana. To find out if you qualify for free tax preparation assistance and to see a list of locations, visit www.montanafreefile.org or revenue.mt.gov under Other Useful Resources.
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CONTACT
Molly A. Petersen,
Acting Public Information Officer,
Montana Department of Revenue
(406) 444-4331,
MollyPetersen (at) mt (dot) gov
