I did my taxes for 2011 in Turbo Tax. I had changed employers at the end of the year, so based on my two W-2's, TT computed an excess CA SDI/VPDI contribution of $110, which it added to my "expected refund" from the state. The refund check showed up today, but it does not include the $110.
Does that get refunded separately or has there been an error in either Turbo Tax or at the Franchise Tax Board? If the latter, should I hold off on cashing the check?
Thanks, Anoop
Excess SDI (Line 74 of the CA 540) gets added to all your other tax payments and would figure into any refund. CA FTB does not cut two different refund checks.
Check your return and make sure the total payments line includes the excess. Make sure that your math is correct... i.e., the combined withholding from two employers exceeded $1119.79 and this matches your two W-2s. If everything confirms your original conclusion, you will have to call or visit the FTB to get an explanation.
This is, I think, the only refundable credit for CA individual taxpayers (meaning it should get refunded whether you have any tax liability for the year or not).
According to one reference book I have, "if the claim [for excess SDI from two or more employers] is disallowed, the employee may file a protest within 30 days with the Employment Development Department."
So, while contacting the FTB is certainly a good idea, you might also want to communicate with EDD as well, since it, not FTB, is the agency which collects the tax from the employer, who withheld it from your wages.
This was all handled by Turbo Tax. But I checked my W-2's and the total payment is indeed 1230.41. I guess I'll have to call the FTB. They paid me some interest on the rest of my refund but didn't pay me this part. The thing made me look into it was the check amount (even with the interest was lower than the amount Turbo Tax said I should have received.
I'm disappointed with the FTB. My return clearly requests the total refund including the excess SDI payment.
Thanks, Anoop
... but until you contact the FTB, you don't know why the refund was different... could have been a math error.
Why would they be paying you any interest on a 2011 refund for a return filed so soon after the 4/17 deadline? Not impossible, but unusual.
Also, in the OP you mentioned VPDI. Is it possible that one of your employers was collecting VPDI instead of SDI? While VPDI does qualify for the excess withholding refund, it might not have been reported to EDD.
I filed the return well before 4/15. I got a decent chunk of interest. Not sure how that works, but if it's interest for 1 month, I think I should move all my savings to the state. :)
I took a closer look. The first employer's W-2 lists it as "CAVPDI". The second employer's W-2 lists it as "CA-SDI". What I'm not able to grasp though is that they didn't just follow the request for refund on my tax return...they ran their own computations and provided no explanation.
I did call them today and was told to fax in my W-2's. (Turbo Tax had told me that I DID NOT need to attach any W-2's to the return.) They said it would take about 2 weeks or so to resolve. I have a reminder on my calendar to check the status. :)
Anoop
I agree - if they disallowed the credit you claimed, they should have explicitly said so, and why.
OK, this is finally all taken care of, but it's even weirder than I originally thought.
It looks like they had include $90.21 of the $110 SDI/VPDI overpayment in the original refund. How they came up with that number is a mystery to me, and apparently to the person at the Franchise Tax Board that I just spoke to. So they refunded $19.88 which includes a $0.09 interest.
Looks like the main thing they were missing, though, were my W-2's. Even though Turbo Tax knew that I was getting an SDI/VPDI refund, it still mentioned "Do not attach any Form(s) W-2" in my instructions for filing.
Now I'm waiting to find out if the Federal folks have accepted my documentation for my IRA to 401(k) rollover that I did in 2010! Been an interesting year for taxes. :)
Anoop
California State Disability Insurance (SDI) and Voluntary Plan Disability Insurance (VPDI) contributions are typically withheld from your paychecks by your employer and are not refundable. It is possible that there was an error in Turbo Tax or with the Franchise Tax Board that resulted in the $110 being included in your expected refund. You should contact the Franchise Tax Board to inquire about the discrepancy. If the refund check you received is correct, you should cash it as it will not be reissued. If there was an error, they will either issue a corrected refund or provide instructions on how to claim the refund.
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