IRS: Errors blocked child credit for up to 350K

[flashl]

Source: USA Today

WASHINGTON (AP) — Up to 350,000 households aren't getting the $300 per child owed them as part of their economic stimulus rebate payments, the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday.

The tax agency says taxpayer human error and computer glitches were responsible for the problem affecting a tiny percentage of the 130 million taxpayers expected to benefit from the refunds the government began sending out last month.

IRS spokesman Terry Lemons said the agency was confident it had identified all the people affected by the mistake. He said the IRS will send letters to those who missed out on the refund and that checks for the child credit will be mailed out in July. People need not contact the IRS or file additional paperwork, he said.

...

He said the problem on the child payments was traced to taxpayers failing to check a box on their paper tax returns and to two computer software systems, less than 1% of those in use, that weren't capturing the information needed to trigger the payment.

USA Today

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-05-15-childcredit_N.htm

[high density]

1. That's too bad; they'll get the money in 2009 after they file their 2008 return

We can't fault the IRS for bad third party software or taxpayers who can't check boxes.

[flashl]

3. There is a concept called software quality control. nt

[razors edge]

4. But we can fault them

for plenty of other things.

And how convenient for them the glitch was in their favor.

[fasttense]

2. Oh my God, 350,000 people left only partially stimulated.

They get left without full stimulation. How frustrating can that be?

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

5. oo noo, that's 350,000 votes their gonna lose..

:sarcasm:

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Glitches, huh? Yeah, right.

Have you ever noticed that every time this Admin. makes a "glitch"
it benefits the gov. and/or a gov. henchman/crony?

Every
Single
Time