By Howard Fischer
Mail | X: @azcapmedia

PHOENIX — The head of the Senate Finance Committee says the Arizona Department of Revenue is misleading many Arizonans by urging them to file their state taxes now even though lawmakers have yet to decide how much they will owe.

Sen. J.D. Mesnard wants the agency to revise that advice.

In an extensive hearing Monday, the Chandler Republican grilled agency employees about the advisory issued last week telling Arizonans not to wait to file.

That was based on the premise that nearly 90% of individuals will not itemize their expenses and will take the standard deduction. And there appears to be agreement between Gov. Katie Hobbs and Republican legislative leaders they will increase that figure to conform with changes made in federal law — and conform with changes that the governor ordered the agency to put into the already prepared forms.

But there are other proposed changes in the law where the governor and lawmakers differ. Potentially more significant, there also are several that are in the federal law — the way the Department of Revenue prepared the form — that neither Hobbs nor GOP lawmakers want.

The result, Molly Murphy, the agency’s director of legislative affairs, conceded that a third of Arizonans, if they follow the “file now” advice, could have to redo their taxes and file amended returns with an updated figure of what they actually owe.

Mesnard said that creates not just hassles for those affected but also financial obligations if they have to go back to a tax preparer.

But what it also does, he said, is mean the Department of Revenue will have to reprocess perhaps a third of tax returns. That’s about a million of them. And Mesnard said that, too, comes with a cost, estimated at $20 million.

All this is occurring against a political backdrop of both the governor and Republican lawmakers each saying they have the best plan for providing tax relief.

Both start with what Congress approved last year in the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which includes not only a higher standard deduction but also an elimination of tax on tips and overtime.

Hobbs also wants an additional $6,000 deduction for those 65 and older, and another deduction paid on interest by people who finance the purchase of a new built-in-the-USA vehicle.

All those are in the tax forms that the governor told the agency to produce.

Republican lawmakers have a different deduction for those age 60 and up for money from retirement accounts. And they want tax breaks for child care. The GOP plan also includes some tax cuts for business.

There is no deal. In fact, Hobbs last week vetoed the Republican plan.

Yet the Department of Revenue was telling people to go ahead and file now.

“Why should they not wait?” Mesnard asked.

“Based on our understanding of the different provisions that are being discussed between the legislature and the governor’s office, two-thirds of people won’t be affected by any of those debates,” Murphy said.

And what of the other third, Mesnard asked.

“You’re directive to everybody was, ‘No, don’t wait to file,’” he said.

“Anyone who’s read this, to the extent they may not have any awareness of what’s happening here (at the Capitol), they are now more confident, ‘Yeah, we should definitely file,’” he told Murphy. “Isn’t that increasing the likelihood of amended returns?”

What makes that advice even worse, Mesnard said, is that “it’s only January,” with returns not due until April 15.

Murphy said the department was doing what it thought was right to minimize the number of people who need to file amended returns. She conceded there will be those who, if they file now, will be back at it once the governor and Legislature reach a deal.

And that, Murphy said, could come with a cost.

“If a million people are to amend their returns, that would cost approximately $20 million for the department to process,” she said, especially if the agency is to try to stick to its promise to process returns within 60 days.

Mesnard said that proves his point.

“Why urge people to file today?” he asked, if each amended return costs $20. “Why would you do that?”

Murphy said the advice to all taxpayers to file now — and hope that they won’t have to file an amended return — “was designed to provide more clarity.”

“I understand that it didn’t,” she acknowledged, saying the agency is now trying to “nuance” that message. And Murphy said those who could be impacted by what the governor and lawmakers decide “should take a look at their specific circumstance” to decide when to file.

Mesnard told Murphy the department should get out that new message — and soon.

There was no immediate answer from an agency spokeswoman about whether that will happen.