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NY To Start Issuing 1M Income Tax Interest Checks Next Week

By James Nani · 2020-11-04 15:07:36 -0500

New York's tax department will begin issuing roughly 1 million payments to taxpayers starting next week for interest owed on refunds because of COVID-19-related changes to the deadline for filing income tax returns, a department official said Wednesday.

While New York's Department of Taxation and Finance generally issues interest owed on tax refunds with the refund, the checks will be sent out separately this year, according to Michael Shollar, deputy commissioner of processing and taxpayer services. Shollar made the comments during an online tax conference hosted by the Connecticut Society of CPAs.

Shollar said the payments will be sent out starting next week and should all be delivered by Dec. 15. The average check will be about $20, he said.

According to a frequently asked questions section on the department's website, the interest is on refunds for 2019 tax returns filed by July 15, 2020. Because of the change in due dates for returns and payments from April 15 to July 15 this year due to the pandemic, the department needed to adjust the refund interest calculation, the FAQ said.

In March, New York extended deadlines for personal and corporate income tax filings and payments to July 15 because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, under authorization from an executive order issued by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

--Editing by Joyce Laskowski. 

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