An estimated 120,000 taxpayers will have to pay a little more in taxes this year because the Department of Revenue Services miscalculated their property tax credit.
That’s according to a press release from Department of Revenue Commissioner Kevin Sullivan.
Sullivan said his department only caught the $12 million error on Thursday.
“When we make a mistake, we own it and fix it immediately,” Sullivan said. “In this case, we did not correctly inform taxpayers of the additional phase down of the property tax credit enacted by the General Assembly in the 2015 legislative session.”
Sullivan added: “I apologize for our error and the inconvenience to those taxpayers.”
The budget lowered the threshold to qualify for the credit from $100,000 for married couples down to $70,500. The maximum that can be claimed is $300 per household and for some reason the system seems to have been properly applying the calculation to single individuals, so it’s only married couples or heads of households who will be impacted.
The Department of Revenue Services has stopped processing income tax returns for married couples and heads of households until the error is fixed.
Those taxpayers who have already received a refund will be given the option of making repayment now or offsetting their taxes next year without penalty.
Meanwhile, none of the budget forecasts anticipated the $12 million error, so the state’s budget deficit is worse than $220 million.
Republican lawmakers were quick to blame the Democratic majority for approving “confusing fiscal policies” that were rushed through in the middle of the night.
“This is an embarrassment that shows Connecticut government in a state of disorder and chaos,” Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said. “Sadly, this is not the only example of a dysfunctional state under Democrat leadership.”
Rep. Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said “This tax change was a poor decision to begin with, but now to have surprise tax bills going out to people after they have paid their taxes is going to be very upsetting.”