By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — If you have kids and get money back from the IRS as a result, your refund may take longer to get to you than you realize.
"EITC is one of the big tax credits that's vulnerable for fraud," said IRS spokesperson Michael Devine. "The people that file a tax return, claiming either the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit, those returns are going to be processed as soon as you file them, but any refund that would be due for those returns claiming those two credits will be delayed, we will not release those refunds until February 15."
A lot of Kansans are beneficiaries of these credits.
"In Kansas last year, almost 190,000 people got an average of almost $2500 in benefits from the EITC," Devine said. "That means we release your refund to the Treasury Department on February 15 and then it can take ten days to two weeks until it actually goes through the system and gets to your bank account."
This means even if you've already filed, it will still be awhile before you can spend that money.
"People who are filing, claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit, your refunds may not get to your bank until the end of February or even early March, because there's so much fraud with those two credits, we take extra time to protect taxpayer money."
It's still important to file as soon as possible, however, to get your return in line to be released on February 15 and prevent potential identity thieves from using your personal information to file fraudulent returns.