Nearly $5M refunds, child tax credit checks now out

Gov. Eloy S. Inos said yesterday that the first batch of refund, rebate, and child tax credit checks for calendar year 2013 totaling nearly $5 million for almost 6,700 taxpayers were mostly released and mailed out on Saturday, over a month earlier than originally anticipated. The administration expects to release a total of $8 million in checks.

Residents interviewed yesterday said they were surprised and at the same time thankful that their tax checks have now been released to pay for utility bills and prepare for the school opening this early.

Joe Crisostomo, 50, said yesterday it’s good Father’s Day news to know that the government has started releasing the checks, adding that he’s expecting some $4,000 in child tax credit checks.

The father of six children aged 8 to 19 years old said that most of that amount would perhaps go to paying utility bills and other obligations. But the Gualo Rai resident said he will make sure that the school supply needs of his four children who are still in elementary and high school will be taken cared of.

“We have so many expenses and obligations and most of the checks will probably go to paying bills. In my years of receiving this check, I think this is among the earliest it’s released by the government,” said Crisostomo in an interview at yesterday’s commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Battles of Saipan and Tinian.

Another resident, a 32-year-old from Dandan, hopes that parents will ensure that the child credit checks they receive “will really go toward their children.”

“There are parents who gamble away their money. I hope those who receive their checks will keep the money for their children, when the classes start, to buy them school stuff,” said the resident, who declined publication of his name, so that he said he can talk freely without retaliation from those who know him.

In an interview yesterday, the governor said the administration didn’t want to hold on the funds that were already made available, thus the early release of tax rebate and refund checks as well as child tax credit checks.

“We just want to get it out of the way. People are in need of funds. And the funds are there so let’s just move it out, not just rebates but also child tax,” he said, adding that the release of checks are based on the filing dates.

In a separate statement, the governor’s office said the first batch of checks released covers all taxpayers that filed their 2013 returns “on or before March 31, 2014” and are cleared in the system.

The first batch covers $2,094.199.09 in refund and rebate checks, and $2,837,232.95 in child tax credit checks, for a total of $4,931,432.04.

These include 4,687 refund and rebate checks, and 2,008 child tax checks, totaling 6,695 checks already released.

Press secretary Angel Demapan said the next batch of checks to be released is for all filers who filed between April 1 and April 15 2014.

“We anticipate release of those checks on Friday, June 27,” he said.

The second batch includes $1,648,242.96 in refund and rebate checks, and $1,507,812.40 in child tax checks, totaling $3,156,055.31.

This covers 3,392 rebate and refund checks, and 1,198, for a total of 4,590 checks for the second batch of release.

“Checks released after June 27 will be processed by filing date and are either late filers who filed after the April 15 deadline or taxpayers with deficiencies that need to be cleared at the Division of Revenue and Taxation,” Demapan said.

The governor, in a statement, said the staff of the Division of Revenue and Taxation under the Department of Finance “have worked diligently to process the tax returns of CNMI taxpayers and were able to complete their processing by more than a month ahead of schedule.”

“This is certainly good news for our taxpayers. It’s a very busy time of the season with graduations and the beginning of summer,” Inos added.

Finance Secretary Larrisa Larson, for her part, thanked “everyone for their patience as we try to get everyone’s checks out as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

For those who don’t receive their checks, the governor encourages them to contact the Division of Revenue and Taxation “to verify whether there may be deficiencies pending resolution.”

The Inos administration earlier said the rebate and refund checks, as well as child tax checks could be out as early as July.

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.