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Rebates ‘out as early as July’
Finance secretary cites options to get checks ahead of official release
Close to 7,500 taxpayers that have so far filed their 2013 individual tax returns could expect to receive “as early as July” an estimated $9 million in total rebate and refund checks, as well as child tax credit checks for others.
Finance Secretary Larrisa Larson said yesterday that the number of 2013 tax filers as of yesterday—7,494—is still preliminary, along with the amount of checks to be released “before the opening of schools.”
Larson calls on community members to be patient until the checks are ready for release but said Finance has been working with Bank of Saipan and Express Financial to allow qualified taxpayers to borrow against their expected tax refunds and rebates if they need their money for immediate reasons, or before Finance’s official release of checks.
“We’re not ready at this point to release [checks] to anyone,” Larson told Saipan Tribune, before the start of the Lottery Commission’s first official meeting to discuss two Saipan casino applications yesterday afternoon.
As of yesterday, the preliminary 2013 refund checks estimated for release is $1.17 million. Larson released this specific data after the Lottery Commission’s meeting, when data became available.
The child tax credit checks typically total between $5 million and $6 million, with the first batch normally at $4 million.
The rest—estimated at $3 million to $4 million—is for rebate checks.
A refund is for tax that has been overpaid or incorrectly paid, and is returned to the taxpayer, while rebate is for tax properly paid and is subsequently returned to the taxpayer under a rebate provision in the law.
When the CNMI economy was at its peak, the annual number of taxpayers would exceed 10,000.
