Treasury wraps up ’21 tax cycle with 1.2M returns filed, $1.3B in refunds
The Treasury Department confirmed that this year’s income tax return filing cycle ended with 1.2 million returns filed and $1.3 billion refunds disbursed, exceeding last year’s period by 16%, with 197,000 additional forms on record.
In a news conference, Puerto Rico Treasury Secretary Francisco Parés said that $938 million in Work Credit benefits were claimed, of which $863.9 million have been repaid, representing 329,076 applications.
“Of the total Work Credit claimed, 72% was from individual taxpayers and 28% are married, 15% or 102,538 were new taxpayers, when compared to the year 2020, and of these new taxpayers, 46% are salaried and 49% receive income from other sources,” he said.
Of the total Work Credit claimed, 92% represented a refund and the remaining 8% was a credit against the pending tax, he added.
“The filing process through SURI is extremely simple and we are very aware because taxpayers, on a scale of five, qualify the system with a 4.6,” said Parés.
He added that in addition to the digital platform, providers authorized by the Department are still available on the website.
“So far there are 45,000 requests for extensions, extending the filing period for an additional six months and in the case of salaried employees, it allows them to pay half now and the rest in October, without interest or surcharges,” said Parés.
Regarding the people who have not yet received their refund, the Treasury Department recommended verifying the correspondence in the accounts in SURI, in case they have received any notification of Mathematical Error.
During this taxable period, Treasury issued 102,000 notifications of Mathematical Errors, or 8.5% of the total returns filed, and there are 2,128 claims pending.
The tax period that is ending — after being extended for a week in response to the four-day blackout earlier this month — included the launch of a redesigned SURI digital platform.
Some of the new feature include the ability to automatically populate the W-2PR 2021 Withholding Statement, effectively preparing the form for filing, specifically in the cases of salaried taxpayers, who only verify if the information is correct.
Functionalities were added to accept notifications of Mathematical Error and Payroll Adjustment, speeding up the processes and easy access to the Merchants’ Registration Certificates and a “Favorites” tab were provided, so that the representatives, or those who act on behalf of taxpayers, can group their clients.
