States may hold onto tax refunds for months

USA Today | States from New York to Hawaii that have been hard-hit by the economic downturn say they have either delayed refunds or are considering doing so because of budget shortfalls.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-11-tax-refunds_N.htm?csp=34

aint that a bitch

NEW YORK STATE TAX REFUNDS PUT ON HOLD
March 18th, 2010

Via: CBS:

For hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, the check won’t be in the mail — at least not on time. New York State has stopped paying tax refunds and won’t start again until next month.

The tax refund delay is part of a bigger cash crunch.

Message to New Yorkers: don’t start spending your tax refund money because it’s going to be delayed.

Half a billion dollars’ worth of refund checks were put on hold last Friday, and state beancounters won’t start sending you your money until at least April 1.

“I apologize that we had to do this. I hope it serves notice on the public of how serious our financial situation is,” Gov. David Paterson said.

Several hundred thousand New York taxpayers will be affected with most getting an average refund of $1,000. People who filed in late February and early March might have to wait as long as six weeks till the checks are in the mail.

The governor said the move was unavoidable. He’s also planning to withhold $1.5 billion in school payments and aid to local governments.

“The damage at this time would be far worse because if we do not pay our debts on time, it thrusts the state into a downgraded credit rating,” Paterson said.

This is insane.

"“The damage at this time would be far worse because if we do not pay our debts on time, it thrusts the state into a downgraded credit rating,” Paterson said."

Hahaha... They're choosing foreign currency holders over their own citizens.