PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island revenue officials say nearly 60,000 income tax refunds haven’t been paid by the state because of a new computer system and a high number of returns labeled suspicious by its fraud detection system.
The Providence Journal reports the comments were part of testimony from Revenue Department Director Robert Hull and Acting Tax Administrator Neena Savage before the House Committee on Oversight on Thursday.
About 25,000 returns were tagged for review for potential fraud. They say the department hopes to have all of the refunds processed and paid by mid-July.
There are about twice as many potentially bogus refunds as last year.
But Hull says this year’s numbers represent suspected fraud and reviews could reveal that many are innocent mistakes.
