Paper checks have been eliminated as a refund option for Virginia taxpayers with the 2012 General Assembly’s passage of the 2012-14 Appropriations Act.
Under the new law, Virginians will be able to choose between a direct deposit refund and a pre-paid Way2Go Card debit MasterCard card as a part of the Go Program. These will remain the only two options for refunds. A division of Xerox Corporation is offering this program to the state at no cost. Virginia issued more than 1.2 million refund checks in 2012 and estimates an annual savings of $200,000 in printing and mailing costs.
The refund will be held in a bank account at Comerica Bank, a MasterCard bank, so the money will be protected by state and federal bank laws. When the total amount of the refund is spent, the Comerica account will be closed and the card should be destroyed.
“The debit cards require these additional steps before the money can be accessed: [one,] when you receive the refund debit card, you must activate it using identifying information – your SSN and birth date – that only you should know, and [two,] the recipient then creates a 4-digit PIN to use with the card,” said Joel Davison, public relations manager for the Virginia Department of Taxation in an email.
While using the prepaid debit card could incur fees, recipients of the card will have several free options for using the card:
- Online purchases and online bill pay
- Purchases at businesses using a signature or PIN number, including cash back options
- Low balance and high dollar transaction alerts by email phone or text message
- Checking transaction history and balances on the Go Program website
Some transactions are free one time per month and cost after the first transaction, while some transactions cost the first time as well:
- ATM cash withdrawal at MoneyPass ATMs: one free per month and $2.50 per withdrawal thereafter
- ATM withdrawal at non-MoneyPass ATMs: $2.50 per withdrawal and may have an ATM surcharge as well
- ATM balance inquiries at MoneyPass ATMs: one free and 35 cents thereafter
- ATM balance inquiries at non-MoneyPass ATMs: 50 cents per instance
- Bank teller cash withdrawals: one free and $2 thereafter
- ATM denials for insufficient funds: 50 cents each
- Funds transfer to another U.S. Bank (IVR or web transfer: one free and $2 thereafter
- Card replacement after activation: $5 each
- Expedited card replacement (two business days): $18 each
- Account access via voice-activated phone system: two free calls per month, $1 each thereafter
- Calls to Go Program representatives: two free calls per month, $2 each thereafter
- International ATM withdrawal: $2.50 each plus two percent of the withdrawal amount
- International transaction fee on point-of-sale transactions: two percent per transaction
- Card inactivity fee: $3 per month once the card has been activated, after the first six months of no activity with a balance greater than zero
- Mailed account statements: $2.50 each
- Instant mobile balance requests: 10 cents per instance
Taxpayers who opt for the debit card and do not receive the card, should check with the Department of Taxation’s refund line at 804-367-2486 to see if the card has been issued. If the card has been issued and the taxpayer still hasn’t received it, Xerox’s Go Program should be contacted at 855-409-0580, Davison said.
For additional information, visit Virginia’s Department of Taxation website.
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