It seems the IRS keeps issuing refunds to those who should never have them, and holding up those who should.
They made improper payments of refundable tax credits. In 2011, the agency figures that it wrongly refunded up to $17 billion in earned income credits.
Many taxpayers who took the adoption credit didn’t attach the required documents to their tax returns and still got refunds. And Treasury inspectors have pointed out that the American Opportunity tax credit for college tuition and expenses was claimed for nearly 14,000 students age 10 or under. IRS vows to do a better job of policing.
I am sure they will. They will issue more mail audits to taxpayers for issue that they already have all the documentation on.