IRS Paid $3.5B In Stimulus To Dead People, TIGTA Says

The Internal Revenue Service paid at least $3.5 billion in stimulus payments to dead people, according to a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report.

The agency made more than 2 million economic impact payments to people who had died, according to a report released May 24 by TIGTA, the IRS' federal watchdog. The $3.5 billion was part of $5.5 billion in improperly made payments total as of July 16, 2020. Also included were payments to nonresidents and those who had changed their filing status. Overall, the IRS paid out the wrong amount of economic impact payments about 2% of the time, the report said.

About $80 million of the wrongful payments had been voluntarily returned by Oct. 1, according to TIGTA.

--Editing by Roy LeBlanc.

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