More Oregon taxpayers than normal are facing a longer wait for their refund this year. But as a later-than-usual April 18 filing deadline approaches, the Oregon Department of Revenue said it's clearing out the backlog.
Some tax returns get flagged for additional processing, but it’s not the same thing as an audit. Bob Estabrook of the Oregon Department of Revenue said the so-called manual review could be triggered by a number of things.
"Potential fraud is kind of the number one thing that we're concerned about, but there are things as simple as math errors, as documentation that wasn't included,” Estabrook said.
Also in the mix this year is a high rate of people who didn't calculate their kicker tax rebate correctly. It's been nearly a decade since Oregon taxpayers last had to run that particular equation.
Earlier this tax season, nearly one-third of all Oregon personal tax returns were set aside for further review -- twice the normal rate. Estabrook said the number is now back to normal.
Procrastinators have an extra weekend to file their tax returns this year. Oregon's deadline is April 18, which mirrors the federal IRS deadline. That due date was pushed back from the usual April 15 due to a public holiday in the District of Columbia, where the IRS is based.