in our Spotlight on Business Report tonight another inflation report out today with unexpected positive signs this one is the producer prices index for March showing a 0.5 percent decrease month over month the producer index measures cost paid by companies and it's typically a good indicator of consumer inflation which appears to be cooling the news comes as tax day looms that refund needed more than ever for families across the state budget and finance writer John reitmeyer joins me for some last minute tips and how to spot scammers John we are getting down to the wire tax day is not April 15th this year when is it first of all that's right Brianna so a few more days for those last minute procrastinators Tax Day this year is April 18th because the 15th falls on the weekend and then there is a holiday in DC on the 17th so instead of being Saturday or Monday this year tax day is Tuesday April 18th so you have a little bit more time but we are coming down to the wire that's for sure so we've been talking a lot about you know the rising cost of goods prices everything is up a lot of people clamoring to get their refund check what's the fastest way to get your taxes filed if you did decide to wait until a couple of days before yeah both the the federal and the state government are encouraging people to file electronically and for those who are owed a refund this seems to be the best way to get your refund uh a little quicker than if you were to file a paper return both the state and the federal government the IRS are suggesting that it's taking a little longer to get returns uh refunds back to people if they're filing paper returns so it looks like if you want to speed up that refund that that you may be owed file electronically the federal government and the state both have ways you can do that and for those who meet income standards the the irs's free file program is very effective so uh definitely get on it if if you think you're owed a refund and you want that money in your pocket sooner than later and don't be confused right when you do see that refund it's not your anchor rebate which everyone just finished filing and could be getting any day now if they haven't already that's right and and make sure that if you have filed your returns already at the state level and you you've even received a refund so anchor benefits are coming out sort of concurrently to when some people are getting refunds anchor benefits will either be 1500 a thousand or four hundred fifty dollars depending on whether you're a homeowner you're a renter and what your annual income is so those round those big round numbers that's going to be your anchor benefit if you qualify anything else is going to be a tax refund from the state if you're owed one okay very quickly this is also a time of year when scammers tend to prey on people what should we be on the lookout for definitely Be watchful of anyone asking for for private information who's not say your tax preparer or someone else that you're in regular contact with that's one of the big scams to be mindful of things that come through email or text messages and then if you are using a tax preparer make sure you're using one who is willing to sign that return and indicate legally that they are your tax preparer that's another red flag if somebody's unwilling to do that okay I can't let you go without talking about what's been a pretty darn good week for the state in terms of credit upgrades what happened there that's right and within the last few days three different rating agencies have moved New Jersey's credit rating up one notch so not three upgrades in three notches up but one notch each from three different credit rating agencies and and this is really going back to the state doing a better job of paying its bills in recent years so paying down debt paying full pension contributions but also being better prepared for any future downturn which which we may be you know on the eve of by by boosting budget reserves and so we're seeing the rating agencies respond to those moves that the state has made recently all right everything you need to know there John reitmeyer for us thanks John you're welcome [Music]