Your Georgia Tax Refunds May Take Three Months To Process

ATLANTA, GA — State tax refunds in Georgia may take more than three months to process next year, even for people who file electronically.

The delay will be due to new steps being taken to prevent tax fraud, said Georgia Department of Revenue Commissioner Lynne Riley.

"To combat tax fraud, taxing agencies are taking every action necessary to protect taxpayer dollars and confidential taxpayer information," Riley said in a news release. "The department wishes to inform individuals on the upcoming procedural changes, so they may plan accordingly."

Riley said the department has implemented a state-of-the-art fraud management system, which already has blocked $70 million in fraudulently filed refund requests in 2016.

More changes are on the way for 2017, too.

For individuals the state won't start processing tax returns until February 1.

It will take around 90 days for the revenue department to then process the return and issue a refund. And people who are filing Georgia taxes for the first time, or who have not done so for five years, will receive their refund in the form of a paper check.

Businesses must now file employees' W-2 information with the department by January 31, instead of the previous deadline of February 28.

Employers who file late may face penalties and will slow down the processing of their employees' tax returns, Riley said.

The revenue department also is encouraging Georgians to take these additional steps to prepare for tax season and help prevent fraud:

• adjust their federal and state income tax withholdings so they'll get the immediate benefit of higher paychecks throughout the year
• register with the Department of Revenue's Georgia Tax Center to check the status of their tax returns
• Once registered with the tax center, taxpayers may opt into alerts to notify them when a return has been filed with their Social Security number.

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