(WSIL) -- Governor Pritzker announced Wednesday day the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) will begin issuing refunds to eligible taxpayers who filed their 2020 Illinois Individual Income Tax Return prior to a newly enacted federal unemployment tax exemption.
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 included a retroactive provision making the first $10,200 per taxpayer (up to $20,400 married, filing jointly) of unemployment benefits nontaxable for returns with a modified Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of less than $150,000.
The provision was enacted after tax filing season opened on February 12, 2021. Approximately 376,000 Illinois taxpayers who filed returns electronically prior to ARPA may qualify to receive a refund.听
The Illinois Department of Revenue has begun recalculating electronically filed 2020 individual income tax returns and will notify taxpayers who filed before March 15, 2021 of the systemic adjustment of their AGI and the amount of any refund due.
Eligible taxpayers can expect to receive their refund checks approximately two to three weeks after they receive a notification letter from IDOR.听
IDOR will also notify an estimated 3,300 paper filers who filed prior to the implementation of the federal unemployment exclusion that they will need to file an amended return to qualify for any refund due.听聽
- For taxpayers who filed electronically on or after March 15 and included the unemployment exclusion on their federal and state individual income tax returns, no additional filing changes are required.
- For taxpayers who filed electronically on or after March 15 but did not include the unemployment exclusion when calculating their AGI, an amended return must be filed to adjust their AGI.
Additional information from the IRS may be found in their article聽. For Illinois specific information on unemployment compensation, including different filing scenarios, visit IDOR鈥檚 website聽.听
