After forced delay, New York State again issuing tax refunds

ALBANY - New York is again issuing income tax refunds, after several weeks of delaying payments so the state would have enough cash on hand to meet its financial obligations.

The delays allowed New York to avoid paying out about $500 million immediately. The average state income tax refund is about $1,000 and takes three to four weeks to arrive.

Those who filed in late February and in early March were affected by the delay. They were expected to wait about six weeks to receive refunds.

Payments resumed with the start of the new fiscal year yesterday.

The state limits the amount of tax refunds it pays in the first three months of the calendar year to $1.75 billion. Gov. David A. Paterson reduced that cap to $1.25 billion because the state must roll about $2 billion into next year's budget to close the current budget gap.

- AP