(Radio Iowa) — A greater amount of Iowa income tax refunds to individuals have been issued so far this tax season when compared to this time last year. According to the Legislative Services Agency, the total amount through the end of February is 52 MILLION dollars MORE than the amount of individual income tax refunds the state issued in the first two months of 2019.

Jeff Robinson is senior fiscal analyst for the Legislative Services Agency. “As the filing of tax returns for tax year 2019 has just begun, it is not possible yet to determine if the jump in tax refunds will be sustained or if it’s just that the process of issuing individual income tax refunds began a little sooner this year,” Robinson says.

Over the past eight months, total state tax revenue was five-point-seven percent HIGHER. “But it is early in the tax year 2019 processing season, with the vast majority of tax returns yet to be filed and processed,” Robinson says. The deadline for filing STATE income tax returns is April 30th.