The Kentucky Department of Revenue expects today to lift the temporary hold on the processing of electronic returns that it put into effect Friday in response to the detection of fraudulent returns filed through TurboTax in Kentucky and other states.
As of Monday, roughly 200,000 returns had been placed on hold, the department said. Those returns are expected to take up to two weeks for processing, as opposed to the usual 7-10 days.
The Department of Revenue encouraged taxpayers to continue filing their returns electronically, which they said is a safe method and the fastest way for taxpayers to receive refunds. In addition, new screening mechanisms have been instituted during the hold to allow the department to process returns on a normal schedule while detecting incidents of fraud, according to the department.
“We have strong internal controls to protect Kentucky taxpayer data and personal information,” Mack Gillim, executive director of the Office of Processing and Enforcement, said in a statement. “With our internal fraud detection processes, as well as the fraud analytics evaluations our third-party vendor performs, we are able to kick out thousands of fraudulent returns.”
The issue was limited to returns processed through TurboTax by Intuit Inc. In addition to suspicious returns flagged by Kentucky’s fraud detection system, taxpayers also alerted the revenue department to the problem after trying to file their taxes and being told by TurboTax that their taxes already had been filed.
Electronic filing by individuals in Kentucky has increased from 65 percent to more than 84 percent in the past five years. Kentuckians with questions about the process or who wish to report fraudulent activity should call the Department of Revenue Taxpayer Assistance line at (502) 564-4581. TurboTax customers who suspect they have been the victims of tax fraud can also call Intuit Inc. at (800) 944-8596.