It's been almost four months since the April 15 tax filing deadline, yet tens of thousands of people in Michigan are still wondering where their state refund is.
See the full story in the video below
Some of them have emailed WXYZ's tip line, or contacted me directly. One man from Southfield emailed me asking for my assistance in getting to the bottom of the problem, so I reached out to the state treasury department for answers.
“How long have you been waiting for your tax refund?" I asked Charles Harris.
Still haven't got it. They received it April the 8," he said.
Harris filed a paper income tax return in early April and was expecting a $2,000 refund. Twice he called the state's customer service contact line, pressed "one" for someone to call him back. No one did. On July 23, he emailed me asking for help.
"How would you like the state of Michigan to handle this?" I asked.
"Well, I mean, just address it, the phone system is really, it's just ridiculous. I mean you call and every day they tell you it's a two-hour wait before you can speak with somebody.," he said.
Harris started calling after 7 News Detroit Reporter Darren Cunningham's story in June detailing the logjam created when the Treasury Department switched out a 40-year-old computer system with a new software package called "GenTax."
Watch below: Thousands of state tax refunds delayed
This week, I reached out to the department to find out what's taking so long.
"So, for returns that were filed on time, which would be the April 15 deadline, we have less than 95,000 that are waiting on their refund request," Missy Snyder, the Treasury Department's division administrator of individual income tax, said.
"At this point, is the software still causing any issues or problems or are there additional issues causing the delays?" I asked.
"So, at this point we're on, we're working through the returns that have to be worked manually," SNyder said.
She said the returns are either missing information or the state has requested identity information and people have not responded.
The state posted online, "As of July 29, 2026, Treasury has processed more than 5.2 million individual income tax returns and issued over $3.59 billion in refunds since the filing season opened on January 26. This processing volume is on pace with last year’s performance."
As for the long call center wait times, Snyder said the Treasury Department installed a new phone system on July 22. It was after that when Harris was able to get through after waiting an hour and 22 minutes.
"Do I think people have a right to be upset? Yes. I just want to ensure everybody that this group is trying to process everything as quickly as possible," Snyder said.
If you are facing a hardship, the treasury department recommends you contact the Individual Income Tax Customer Line at 517-636-4486. If the wait times are long, you can request a call back, and officials say someone will call you back within the next business day.
If all resolution options have been exhausted, you can call the Taxpayer Advocate at 517-636-4759 and leave a voicemail. You can also reach them at www.michigan.gov/taxpayeradvocate. Treasury Services are also available online at Michigan.gov/MiTreasuryeServices.
I requested the state to look into Harris' case and a day later, eh emailed me saying, "the check from the treasury department arrived today with an added $29.45 interest included.
I asked Snyder what's triggering the most reviews this year. She said confirming peoples' identities. There's a more updated process now with intense scrutiny because of the growing problem of scammers filing fraudulent returns.
