DETROIT – Michigan taxpayers say they remain months behind on refunds after a troubled Department of Treasury software rollout produced thousands of erroneous notices, missed callbacks and long waits for answers.
Karen Conley told Local 4 she mailed her return March 27. When she logged into her Michigan Treasury eServices account, it showed no record.
She finally got through the phone lines.
An agent told her the return was under review and would be expedited.
David Yesh said his refund finally arrived months later only after repeated inquiries and without an explanation.
It’s not just tax filers, but also accountants who’ve spent months trying to get clear answers.
A treasury spokesperson attributes the delays to incorrect and incomplete information on returns.
The department also launched a software upgrade roughly two months before the start of the tax filing season.
The rollout’s glitches also include roughly 27,000 automated letters warning of “adjustments” to refunds that did not explain the reason for the change. The vague notices prompted some taxpayers and CPAs to send additional payments they did not owe; some of those funds remain with the department.
Last month, members of the House Oversight Committee blamed a rushed software rollout during a hearing. Lawmakers also pressed treasury for documentation and a plan to prevent a repeat next filing season.
During their appearance, treasury officials doubled down on the department’s pledge to return a callback within three business days.
However, several tax filers claim that’s not the case.
In a statement to Local 4, a treasury spokesperson characterized the current callback process as a temporary manual workaround.
The department said taxpayers who request a callback through Michigan Treasury eServices should expect a response within three business days by phone, email or web message and that most inquiries meet that standard.
“Our records indicate that we are answering taxpayers within three business days of receipt when correspondence is correctly submitted through Michigan Treasury eServices,” said Ron Leix, a department spokesperson, in an email.
He added that many delays stem from users not entering callbacks correctly or omitting phone numbers.
Local 4 filed a Freedom of Information Act request to see those records.
Yesh said it took him more than three weeks to hear back from the department.
“One of the requests said, we didn’t call you back because you didn’t leave your phone number,” he said. “Every time I log into the system, they send me a text to my phone number to verify I am who I am. My phone number is in the profile. And when you click the button, request a callback, they don’t ask you for a phone number, presumably because they already have it.”
The department said it is upgrading its Individual Income Tax phone system to NICE CXone, a platform already used in other treasury divisions. It expects the new system, which supports higher call volumes and virtual queuing for callbacks, to be online before the end of July.
The unusual long refund delays have tax filers demanding interest.
Some viewers told Local 4 it was not automatically included with their refund.
According to state law, interest is owed within 45 days of the return due date or the date the return is received – whichever is later.
The department clarified interest does not apply to Homestead Property Tax Credit or Home Heating Credit refunds.
Treasury declined to discuss individual cases publicly but said returns left in processing typically involve missing or incorrect information, identity verification checks, complex filings with multiple schedules or credits, or potential offsets for debts or court-ordered garnishments. The department noted that paper-filed returns generally take longer and are more likely to require arithmetic corrections.
As of July 10, Treasury said it had processed more than 5.19 million individual returns and issued more than $3.55 billion in refunds since the filing season opened Jan. 26.