California Wants to Give Back $15 Million in Returned Tax Refunds

The Franchise Tax Board has been constructing a massive piggy bank with California’s returned state income tax refunds – $15 million in total.

A eyebrow-raising 49,000 refunds, in the range of one dollar to $218,000, were returned to the state by the Postal Service. The cause of this is usually the taxpayer changing their address after filing the tax return and neglecting to update their address.

The FTB reminds taxpayers who have moved to update their address by using Access Your Account on FTB?s website. FTB reissues returned refunds automatically once a new address is received.

Taxpayers expecting a state refund, or unsure if they received their refund, can access FTB?’s Check Your Refund Status on FTB?s website. This service is available in both English and Spanish.

FTB encourages taxpayers to use direct deposit when filing their tax returns to avoid missing out on that longed-for refund. Direct deposit is a fast and secure method to receive your tax refund within days rather than waiting weeks for a paper refund. This year, more than 4.6 million California taxpayers used direct deposit to receive nearly $4 billion directly into their bank accounts.

As of mid-December, FTB issued more than 9.4.million refunds worth more than $9 billion for an average refund of $967.