Where’s my Vermont Income Tax Refund?

Disclaimer: The informaon provided here is intended to be an overview only. Vermont tax statutes,

regulaons, Vermont Department of Taxes rulings, or court decisions supersede informaon presented here.

Revised November 2023 | Publicaon FS-1073

You can check the status of your refund is by selecng Check

the Status of Your Return located on the myVTax homepage

(hps://www.myvtax.vermont.gov/).

Please wait at least 72 hours for e-led returns and 8-10 weeks

for paper-led returns before checking the status of your

refund. To nd out if your refund has been issued, you must

enter your 1) last name, 2) Social Security Number, 3) ZIP code,

and 4) requested refund amount.

This service will provide the current status of your return, such

as the following:

• We’ve received your return (with date received)

• We’re processing your return

• We’ve requested addional informaon (with date of

request)

• We’ve received your addional informaon

• We’ve released your refund (with date of release)

Factors That Can Add Time to Processing

Your Refund

Missing Informaon

If your return is missing informaon, forms, or schedules, we

will send you a leer with details of what we need from you. You may submit informaon to the Department

through myVTax by selecng Respond to Correspondence on the myVTax homepage (hps://www.myvtax.

vermont.gov/). Your prompt response will help us process your refund more quickly.

Tax Credits and Refund Claims Take Time

We encourage you to le for tax credits if you are eligible, but informaon you provide to apply for these

credits oen requires research and vericaon by our tax examiners. This adds me to processing. For

example, you must include a completed Schedule HI-144, Household Income, with your Property Tax Credit

We understand that you want your Vermont personal income tax refund as quickly as possible. Perhaps you’ve

already received your federal tax refund from the IRS and wonder when you’ll receive your Vermont tax

refund. There are a number of factors that can add days—and even weeks—to normal processing me. This

fact sheet will cover the most common factors and provide guidance on what you can do to make processing

your refund go more smoothly and quickly.

Check Your Refund Status Online

Claim. The HI-144 requires detailed nancial informaon for you and household members, which must be

reviewed carefully to make sure it is accurate and complete.

We’re Checking for Fraud

The Department works hard to ght fraud and protect your refund, but this can add me to processing. As part

of our fraud detecon eorts, we may send you a leer with instrucons to verify your return. To verify your

return online through myVTax, select Return Filing Vericaon on the myVTax homepage (hps://www.myvtax.

vermont.gov/).

Instances of Fraud are Increasing - But So Are Our Eorts to Stop It

The IRS, Vermont, and other state tax and revenue departments connue to ght identy the and tax refund

fraud. We take our job of protecng taxpayer money and state revenues very seriously. Our special unit

dedicated to detecng and stopping fraud reviews and updates our procedures and standards of pracce to

keep your informaon safe.

Many of these precauons have resulted in increased processing me, but we believe they are worth it. If

we suspect fraud is being commied against you, we will send you a leer requesng vericaon of your

idencaon. Please respond to our request as soon as possible by following the instrucons in the leer.

More details about how to report identy the and fraud can be found on the Vermont Department of Taxes

website (hps://tax.vermont.gov/help/identy-the) and the Internal Revenue Service website (hps://www.

irs.gov/identy-the-central).

Help Us Process Your Refund Faster

The most common

problem that can hold

up processing is when a

taxpayer does not report

ALL income earned for the

tax year. Be sure to wait

unl you have received

all forms W-2 and 1099

before ling your tax

return.

You can help us speed up the processing of your return and refund by

following these ps. If we cannot process your form, we consider your

tax return “not led,” which may result in late fees and penales.

Choose E-le

Save me and avoid mistakes by ling your return online. Your return

will not only get to the Department for processing faster, but the

soware will walk you through the ling process and do the math for

you. You will have to e-le using commercial soware, but more than

half of Vermont taxpayers qualify for free e-ling through Free File.

Find out if you qualify by vising our website (hp://tax.vermont.gov/

free-le).

Double Check Your Informaon

• Make sure the Social Security Number on your Form W-2 is

correct. If not, correct it with your employer.

• Do the math. Double check your math calculaons and enter

them on the correct lines.

• If choosing direct deposit, make sure your nancial instuon

account and roung numbers are correct. If in doubt, ask your

nancial instuon.

• Sign on the line. All lers must sign the form if a signature(s) is

required.

Watch: How to Check the Status of Your Refund

• Print legibly. If we can’t read your wring, we will return the forms to you. You must then resubmit them.

Poor handwring? E-le or use the llable PDF forms to type in your informaon.

• Submit all required forms and schedules.

• Provide your mailing and physical 911 addresses—We ask for both in Secon 1 on Form IN-111. If you

move, nofy the Department in wring of your new address. See our website for instrucons (www.tax.

vermont.gov).

• Provide requested idencaon, such as your Social Security Number, to help us verify your identy.

• Do one nal check for accuracy, making sure all numbers are correct and not transposed, math

calculaons are accurate, and the form is signed by all lers.

If You Use Paper Forms, Always Follow the Form Prinng Instrucons

Subming forms in other than their original formats only slows processing and may lead to an addional fee.

We may send the return back to you if our scanners and tax examiners cannot read your return. Follow these

ps to complete and print forms:

• When prinng forms from our website, follow instrucons on the forms carefully. Do not shrink or enlarge

forms.

• Print forms on 20# or 24# white paper.

• Use only blue or black ink when compleng paper forms.

If you have quesons, please contact us if you have not received your refund within six weeks aer it was

issued at tax.IndividualIncome@vermont.gov or (802) 828-2865 or toll free in Vermont (888)-828-2865. We’re

here to help.