Dept. of Revenue using debit cards for refund payments - KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana News Weather & Sports

Officials say Louisiana tax refund debit cards are saving the state thousands of dollars, but some say the Department of Revenue made a choice that should have been up to the citizens.

The MyRefund cards have thrown some people off. Byron Henderson with the Department of Revenue says the change is a money-saver.

"In the first year it is saving us $315,000 because we won't have to print and mail paper checks," Henderson said.

Henderson says the other reason the state switched to the debit cards is because people who received a paper check and did not have bank accounts were being charged to cash those checks. They say this new way eliminates the taxpayer paying a fee to collect his or her money.

The card can be used like a debit card.

Representative Regina Barrow says idea is a good one, but not everyone is onboard with the state's decision.

"My first complaints came from some seniors, in a community meeting," said Barrow, who has a pending bill in the legislature to allow citizens the ability to decide how they want their refund. The bill has no been discussed yet, Barrow says, because she is collecting information from the state and her constituents.

According to the Department of Revenue, the switch from paper to plastic been successful.

"We've activated 402,000 individual MyRefund accounts. The amount of money on the activated cards so far is 88 million dollars," said Henderson. He says of that, $87 million has already been withdrawn. "After a year, any funds left will revert to unclaimed property in the taxpayers name."

Barrow says she's heard from people having trouble using the cards, who are trying to get the cash and being charged bank fees.

Henderson says because the card is treated like a Visa, any Visa affiliate, including most banks will give you cash. As long as it is a teller-assisted transaction.

You can also call the Department of Revenue and ask them for a check instead.

"If they're calling us to ask for a check, we acknowledge this is one of our busiest times of year on the phone, so it can be a bit difficult to get through to Department of Revenue on the phone," Henderson said.

Barrow says giving the taxpayer a choice of how they want their refund, could cut down on all confusion.

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