DOF releases more rebate checks today

There is something Northern Marianas workers should be happy about: the second batch of rebate and refund checks will be released by the Revenue and Taxation Division of the finance department this weekend.

Finance officials said some of the checks were mailed Thursday morning and should be in the post office boxes of the taxpayers by today. DOF last week released the first batch of 1999 income tax refunds and rebates, which total 9,213 ITRs.

DOF said income tax rebates and refunds are processed and released on a first-in, first-out basis. Those who have filed their ITRs by March 17, 2000 have already received their checks Friday last week.

No pick up of rebate or refund checks are allowed, according to the finance department. DOF also discourages taxpayers from inquiring about the status of their rebates until the filing date falls within the processing period in order to avoid interruption.

According to finance officials, future releases of rebates and refunds will be announced as soon as the Division of Revenue and Taxation completes the processing of other tax returns.

Also, finance officials stressed that delinquent taxpayers are not likely to receive their refund checks until they settle their outstanding taxes due the Commonwealth government.

Those who have issued bounced checks may not also receive their refunds or rebates until they replace their bad checks with either cash or cashier’s check. The government received more than 38,000 tax returns this year.

Official government reports have previously unraveled that the special trust fund has dipped to $2 million from $31 million as of end-1997 when the Tenorio Administration assumed office in January 1998.

The CNMI government issued about $30 million in total rebate and refund checks for both individual and corporate taxpayers last year. Existing local laws oblige the government to release all refund and rebate checks by November.

The government’s issuance of rebate checks was delayed for more than two months during the last tax year. In 1998, the first batch of rebates was released in August when it is normally mailed out during the month of May.

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has consistently assured that all rebate checks will be out by October, or before the law-obliged deadline, adding that there is no way the government will fail to release the money since it is guaranteed by existing laws.