The Iowa Department of Revenue is asking state lawmakers to help them deal with staff cuts by allowing them to take longer to send out next year’s taxpayer refund checks without paying interest.
The Department’s Jim McNulty says they have enough personnel to get out all of this year’s checks — but they want to push back the date where they start paying interest on returns next year.
"Currently we have until the first day of the second calendar month following the date of payment or the due date of the return to pay interest on refunds," McNulty says, "so for most taxpayers if they file by April 30 we don’t have to start paying interest till June first."
McNulty says the change would push back the date when they would have to start paying interest to July 1st. McNulty says it would give them an extra thirty days to issue refunds without having to pay interest.
McNulty estimates the change would save the department about $240,000. The proposal is part of a bill which also seeks to put new caps on some business tax credits to save the state money.