Wisconsin Rebate Checks Still Not Cashed

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Some Rebate Checks Still Not Cashed Unspent Money Comes To $21.5 Million

MADISON, Posted 8:20 p.m. CST March 6, 2000 -- While some Wisconsin taxpayers could not wait to spend their sales tax rebate checks this year, others apparently are not concerned.

The state Department of Revenue reported Monday that 64,000 rebate checks still have not been cashed. Another 19,000 checks have been declared undeliverable by the U.S. Postal Service.

Those 83,000 checks make up $21.5 million of the $700 million in rebate checks mailed in January, the department said.

If taxpayers don't cash their checks before the 90 days are up, they will have to request a new one from the state, said Scott Feldt, a spokesman for the state Treasury Department.

Those taxpayers who don't claim their money before the end of the year are out of luck -- state law mandates that the money goes back into the general fund after Dec. 31, Feldt said.

Of the 2.4 million checks sent to people who filed state income tax returns for 1998, more than 97 percent have been cashed, the revenue department said.

"If you look at the number that are uncashed, it's a very small percentage," Revenue spokesman David Blaska said.

When the state sent out property tax credit checks in March 1990, there were 25,500 checks that were not cashed when the year ended, Blaska said.

Minnesota, which sent almost 2 million rebate checks to state taxpayers last August, faced similar problems.

As of Dec. 31, about 35,000 rebate checks were uncashed. Some were returned because there was no forwarding address and others went uncashed because the recipients were deceased, said Joe Lefto, the state's sales-tax rebate manager.

Wisconsin had its own problems with its revenue checks.

The rebate checks arrive in the mail looking somewhat like postcards, which caused some people to mistake them for junk mail. Those people reportedly threw the checks in the trash.

A printing error by Norwest bank meant about 3,800 checks had to be resent and another 7,500 checks went to the wrong addresses.

The state has ordered stop-payments on 6,900 checks, including duplicates that had been issued twice to the same taxpayer and those that were damaged or thrown away.

It cost $3 per check to reprocess them, Blaska said.

The state is still accepting applications from people who did not get their rebate checks automatically because they did not file income tax returns or homestead credits for 1998. Residents have until June 30 to apply for the rebate, Blaska said.

As of Monday, the state had also received 129,000 applications from people seeking the rebates. Payments have been made to about two-thirds of those taxpayers, according to DOR.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 07, 2000


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