Governor Daniels Announces Automatic Taxpayer Refund

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Governor Mitch Daniels said today that Hoosiers who file individual returns next year will receive a credit of $111 and joint filers will receive a credit of $222 because of the state’s automatic taxpayer refund (ATR).
“We insisted on a per capita refund for two reasons: first, maximum simplicity, as seen on the new tax form. Second, to provide the most relief to lower and middle income Hoosiers, for whom $222 may be meaningful right now,” said Daniels. “Past a point of rock-solid fiscal strength, it’s better to leave this money in the pockets of those who earned it than to let it burn a hole, as it tends to do, in the pocket of government.”Facts about the automatic taxpayer refund:

• Approximately 3.26 million eligible Hoosier taxpayers
• Total ATR amount for individual taxpayers is $360.6 million
• Typical taxpayer liability is $850; the taxpayer refund represents a median tax cut of about 13 percent. The credit will be applied when taxpayers fill out their 2012 income tax forms in 2013. Here is a link to how the language will appear on the form for 2012:http://www.in.gov/gov/files/IT-40EZ(09-11).pdf
• There are about 335,000 taxpayers who will receive a refund in 2013 who otherwise would have owed taxes without the ATR
• About 890,000 taxpayers will receive at least a 25 percent income tax reduction
• About 460,000 taxpayers will receive at least a 50 percent refund (owe $222 or less)
• About 230,000 taxpayers will receive a 100 percent refund (owe $111 or less)

Indiana closed the 2012 Fiscal Year with reserves of $2.155billion or 15 percent of the state’s budget. In 2011, the Indiana General Assembly approved the governor’s plan for an automatic taxpayer refund if the state’s reserves exceeded 10 percent at the end of the budget year that ended on June 30. In future years, the reserve threshold will be 12.5 percent.
The total budget surplus was $721 million. The other $360 million has been used to strengthen pension funds: Judges Pension Fund ($90.2 million); Conservation, Gaming, and Excise Officers’ Pension Fund ($14.6 million); Prosecutors’ Pension Fund ($17.4 million); State Police Pension Fund ($31.7 million); and Pre-1996 Teachers’ Retirement Fund ($206.8 million).
Audio from today’s news conference can be found at the link below
http://www.in.gov/gov/files/Audio/112112 _ATR_Media_Avail.mp3

http://www.in.gov/activecalendar/EventList.aspx?view=EventDetails&eventidn=60411&information_id=121897&type=&syndicate=syndicate