Question: Has anybody else asked recently about not getting their state tax refund check? It has been four months since I filed my state income tax. I have a refund coming. I checked with my accountant and she said that the state is very slow in processing claims. If you owe them money, they want it by the deadline, but if they owe you a refund, it takes a while. I went on their website, where you put in your Social Security number and the exact amount they will owe you, and I got a message that says that they have not processed it. I received my federal refund in two weeks after filing. How come the state takes so long? 

Answer: Because new federal tax legislation was not enacted until Jan. 2, the tax-filing season started late this year for both the state Department of Taxation and the Internal Revenue Service.

However, four months to get a refund is not typical, said Mallory Fujitani, spokeswoman for the Taxation Department.

She said you have since been contacted about what needs to be done to get your refund.

Because Congress didn’t pass the American Taxpayers Relief Act of 2012 — the so-called “fiscal cliff” legislation — until January, the IRS had a late start in coming up with new tax forms and developing new computer software to handle the changes.

As a result, the IRS did not start accepting tax returns until the last week of January, while the Department of Taxation did not start accepting returns until approximately the first week of February, Fujitani said.

Plus, the transition to the IRS’ Modernized e-File electronic filing system was further complicated by the fact that numerous tax software vendors and states were making the transition to the new e-File forms for the first time, she said.

“Despite these complications and a shortage of staff, our Tax Processing and Services Division was able to get out more refunds from January to July than during the same period last year, she said.

During that period this year, the division processed 510,406 tax refunds, for a total of $412,807,304. That compares with 504,557 refunds processed from January to July last year, totaling $351,203,464.

Question: The Wi-Fi at the Liliha Library has been down for at least four weeks now. When I first asked the librarian, she showed me an email that said the Wi-Fi was being worked on but that was more than four weeks ago. It is kind of inconvenient because my kids use the Internet for their homework. Can you find out why it’s taking so long to repair?

Answer: A “hardware problem” is the reason being given for the lack of Wi-Fi service at Liliha Public Library.

At this point, there’s no target date as to when the service will be restored. The problem is confined to Liliha Library.

“Our IT staff and equipment vendor are currently working together to resolve the issue,” said Paul H. Mark, spokesman for the Hawaii State Public Library System. 

He apologized for the inconvenience and said he would let readers know when the service is restored.

Mark suggested going to another library in the meantime, noting that Wi-Fi is available at public libraries statewide, averaging 3,000 connections per week.

He said Wi-Fi is one of the library system’s newest and most popular free services, made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program’s Access for All Grant. 

MAHALO

To Honolulu police officers J. Okumura and K. Lau for assisting me when I had a flat on the freeway and couldn’t get in touch with roadside assistance on Sunday night, July 28. It was a very scary experience, but they handled the situation very professionally and followed me to the service station. — Grateful

———
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.