With talk of a new $225 tax refund for every Indiana taxpayer, what ever happened to the $125 refund promised last year?

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana has another budget surplus and Gov. Eric Holcomb wants it distributed to Hoosiers. Earlier this month, the governor announced he wanted to distribute $1 billion in tax relief to help Hoosiers deal with rising inflation. On Wednesday, he announced plans to call lawmakers back into a special session on July 6.

Under his plan, each taxpayer would receive about $225 — and that's in addition to the $125 automatic tax refund that Holcomb pledged to each Indiana taxpayer at the end of last year.

Following the recent announcement, viewers contacted 13News VERIFY to ask what ever happened to the $125 refund the governor promised.

"Curious if any Indiana residents have received the $125 state tax refund? Within my family and friends, none of us have," wrote Vickie.

"Is the state still processing our 125.00 tax checks?' asked David, pointing out that he and his neighbors have not yet received the refund direct deposit they were expecting.

And Scott wrote, 'I still don't have the $125 Hoosier refund and now governor Holcomb is talking about another $225. What's the deal?"

13News VERIFY turned to state agencies overseeing the automatic taxpayer refund program to answer these questions.

THE QUESTION

Have any Indiana residents already received the automatic $125 tax refund and is the state still processing refunds?

THE SOURCES

• Office of Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb
• Indiana Department of Revenue
• Office of the Indiana State Auditor

THE ANSWER

Yes, about 2 million Hoosiers have already received their $125 tax refund by direct deposit. Refunds for more than 2 million other Indiana taxpayers are still being processed, and state officials expect them to be mailed later this summer.

RELATED: Gov. Holcomb proposes returning $1 billion to Hoosier taxpayers in $225 payments

WHAT WE FOUND

According to the Indiana Department of Revenue, lots of refunds have already been issued.

"So far, we have sent about 1.5 million refunds by direct deposit," said DOR communications manager Natalie Rodriguez. She said those refunds cover just over 2 million Hoosiers. (Some refunds are for multiple people in the same household, so a single $250 refund would be deposited to bank accounts of married couples who filed a joint tax return.)

The governor's office said earlier this year 4.3 million Indiana residents will get the automatic $125 refund. That means to date, just under half (approximately 47%) of the tax refunds have been processed so far.

Rodriguez said the state will send the final round of direct deposit refunds at the end of this month, and those will show up in bank accounts in early July.

The one-time direct deposit will arrive in bank accounts between May and July if a taxpayer:

• filed an Indiana resident tax return for 2020 before Jan. 3, 2022; and
• filed a 2021 Indiana resident tax return by April 18, 2022; and
• listed direct deposit checking or savings account information for your 2021 Indiana income tax refund

Taxpayers will receive a mailed check from the auditor of state if they:

• do not meet the requirements for direct deposit; or
• filed for an extension of time to pay on their 2021 Indiana resident tax return; or
• included directed deposit information for an account associated with refund advance loans or similar arrangements; or
• could not otherwise have a direct deposit sent to their bank account

RELATED: Gov. Holcomb not willing to suspend gas tax, but considers 'inflationary relief'

The state auditor's office says it will start mailing $125 refund checks later this summer, although the actual date is not clear.

"There are supply issues facing the paper industry, so we don't have an exact date on that," Rodriguez said.

According to DOR, taxpayers who have not received their $125 refund should wait at least until September to contact DOR or the auditor's office to check on the status of their check.

If you did not file a recent tax return, the Department of Revenue says according to state law, you are not eligible to receive the automatic $125 tax refund.

The agency has a Frequently Asked Questions page on its website to answer additional questions you may have about the refund program.