Where Is My NY State Tax Refund?

Find out when you should receive your 2012 New York state tax refund

Are you still waiting on a tax refund from New York state? You can check the status of your state refund online by using the Income Tax Refund Status tool on the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance website. If you prefer to use the phone you can also check the status of your refund by calling 518-457-5149.

These days you can expect your federal refund from the IRS in under twenty-one days. In some cases they are even fast enough to get your money out in a week. State operations are not quite so sophisticated.

New York says to expect your refund six to eight weeks after they receive your return. As with federal taxes, the fastest way to get your refund is by e-filing your return and then requesting your refund by direct deposit. Mailing your return in to the tax office and requesting a paper check will both slow down the refund process.

If you really want to know when you’ll get your refund the moment that information become available, you can sign up to receive an email from New York State as soon as they process your return. The message will include the amount of your refund, the expected payment date, and the payment method. In order to receive this email, you have to sign up through the online services.

The best advice I can give when it comes to tax refunds is just to be patient – this advice holds true for your federal taxes but it’s even more true at the state level. Government isn’t known as a model of efficiency. Checking your refund status twelve times a day isn’t going to get your money any faster, but it might make the state’s refund status tool crash.

Just as a reminder for all of you who haven’t filed yet, the deadline for filing your 2012 New York state tax return in April 15, 2013, the same as it is for your federal return. File your taxes with RapidTax now and you can take care of your state and federal return at the same time.

Photo via JefferyTurner on Flickr.

248 Replies to “Where Is My NY State Tax Refund?”

  1. kay please don’t get mad at me but i know my refund wasn’t big but i still counted on it and it totally screwed me…so i am just wanting to be helpful…based on the march 15th date and the fact that you mailed it it appears you could easily have another 30 days of waiting so i just thought you should know if you can i would actually recommend e-filing anyway if the funds are needed i have read of others getting their refunds turned around quickly that way but it’s not a guarantee….snail mailing them def means a wait….

    if you contact a nys rep it seems fruitless though they appear to be able to confirm receipt i too think this is totally bogus but it seems the gov can do this to us and not vice versa…sorta reminds me of the days before the french revolution

  2. It is normal that such delays make taxpayers angry. One way to decrease the impact of such a delay on our daily lives is to try to decrease the amount of the refund we expect. There are a few options available, for example methods related to federal and state withholding, tax rates and adjusted gross income thresholds, investments, medical costs and retirement planning. If anyone’s interested more info on this can be found here: http://www.prestinaegele.com/using-your-2012-tax-year-return-to-plan-for-the-future

    Hope it helps 🙂
    Andrew W.

  3. Even though some have waited over 6-8 weeks for the refund. I was under the impression that the State has to pay interest if the refund goes beyond 8 weeks, if it is the State’s fault. Does anyone know about it?

  4. I’ve been waiting for a large refund since I paper filed my return on March 15. It is totally unacceptable for the state to hold on to what’s rightfully mine for over 60 days already with no explanation or acknowledgement of their even receiving the return. I am going to see if I can contact a NYS representative. It’s ridiculous.

  5. Kristi- Thats great news !!!!! Someone on the turbotax site also received the same message as you and he was also accepted on 2-8 and got his dd date also…..So hoping things are turning around and the rest of us will start to get a change soon

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