Illinois Income Tax Refund Delay Until March

The Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) announced recently that they will delay the processing of 2015 income tax refunds until as late as March 1, 2016. IDOR has been working to improve their fraud prevention and identity theft protocols. The Illinois Department of Revenue reminded taxpayers in the press release that filing income tax returns electronically with direct deposit of your refund is the fastest way to receive a refund while minimizing identity theft.

Error-free Illinois income tax refunds filed electronically should process within two to three weeks from the date the tax forms were submitted. Any income tax forms submitted prior to the March 1, 2016 delay date will begin processing on that date. Illinois income tax refund filed as a paper return can take up to 15 weeks to process.

Illinois has yet to publish their 2015 IL-1040 form and instructions booklet. We will update our Illinois income tax form links on the day we are able to do so.