Why Haven't I Gotten My Minnesota Tax Refund?

If you haven’t gotten your Minnesota tax refund yet, here’s what you should know.

How long do Minnesota tax refunds take?

Unlike other states, the Minnesota Department of Revenue doesn’t publish a specific timeline for tax refunds. You can usually expect income tax refunds to take 2-4 weeks if you filed electronically.

If you filed your Minnesota tax return by mail, expect your refund to take a few weeks longer due to both mailing times and the fact that the Minnesota Department of Revenue has to manually enter your paper return.

Property tax refunds are filed separately and normally take about 60 days from when you filed your property tax refund return. Remember that the normal date to file for property tax refunds is August 15th.

How can I check my Minnesota tax refund status?

Minnesota has an online Where’s My Refund tool. The tool is updated overnight Monday through Friday. There is no reason to check multiple times per day.

The Department of Revenue phone representatives don’t have any additional information unless you receive a letter about a problem with your tax refund.

Why is my Minnesota tax refund on hold?

Minnesota reviews all tax returns before issuing refunds. This is not a complete audit but checks for things like math errors or discrepancies between your tax return and other tax forms.

If there are potential issues with your tax return, it may get held for a more detailed review. In some cases, your refund will be approved as-is after the additional checks. In other cases, you’ll get a letter in the mail asking for more information.

What should I do if I get a letter lowering my refund?

Most letters lowering your state tax refund are proposed changes. That means that Minnesota thinks you made a mistake on your tax return but is giving you a chance to provide more information.

Carefully review your tax return and the letter you received. For simple issues, you often just need to provide a copy of a document or a short written explanation.

For more complex issues or for large amounts of money, you may want to contact a tax professional.

What if my refund was held to pay another debt?

Under Minnesota revenue recapture laws, the state can hold your refund if you owe back taxes or some other debt to a state agency. The IRS also has the right to take your state tax refund if you have a federal tax debt.

You should receive a letter stating why your refund was held. If you have questions about the debt or believe you owed less, contact the department that you owed money to for an explanation and or refund.

Note: In some cases, a nonliable spouse may have the right to receive his or her portion of a refund that was held for the other spouse’s debt.

What if I moved or changed banks?

If you moved since you filed your tax return and requested a paper check, the post office should forward your check if you forwarded your mail. If it’s been more than 2-3 weeks since your check was mailed, call the Department of Revenue.

If you closed the bank account you requested a direct deposit to, that bank will normally reject your refund. You’ll then get a check in the mail a few weeks later.