May 31, 2002 – Saturday is June 1, and Gov. Charles W. Turnbull says 2001 income-tax refund checks are on the way.
The administration made a promise earlier this year to begin paying the tax refunds by June 1, and Turnbull announced on Friday that 7,500 refunds totaling $13 million have been forwarded from the Internal Revenue Bureau to the Finance Department.
The IRB director, Louis Willis, said this is the first batch, and refunds will continue to be forwarded to Finance on a weekly basis until the processing is completed.
Willis asked the public not to call the IRB about the status of refunds, because it will only delay the process.
Turnbull in a release praised Willis and his agency for their "substantial improvement in the timely processing of refunds since 1999." The IRB's track record in this regard has improved considerably since Willis took office last spring, after having served as acting director since the summer of 2000. He said upon becoming director that one of his goals was to improve the refund process, which in the past had taken years.

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