A new report publicly released today by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) praises the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS's) performance in issuing 119 million economic stimulus payments in 2008.

The report concluded that the IRS took significant efforts to ensure eligible individuals received their economic stimulus payment. The IRS also initiated actions to address errors brought to the IRS's attention by TIGTA auditors.

"Thanks to the IRS's efforts, more than 119 million economic stimulus payments totaling more than $96 billion were issued in 2008," commented J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. "This accomplishment is even more significant when you take into account the fact that the IRS planned and executed this program while simultaneously processing millions of tax returns during the 2008 filing season."

Steps taken by the IRS to ensure that eligible individuals received their economic stimulus payments included:

• Establishing a process to resolve duplicate filed stimulus-only tax returns;
• Sending mailings to Social Security recipients and Veterans;
• Publicizing its efforts to redirect stimulus payments mailed to the wrong addresses
• Developing and implementing programming to ensure that members of the military received the stimulus payments to which they were entitled.

TIGTA provided real-time oversight of the IRS's efforts, identifying concerns and bringing them immediately to the attention of IRS management. Addressing these errors resulted in 274,611 individuals receiving a combined total of $105.5 million in economic stimulus payments to which they were entitled. The IRS's actions included issuing recovery payments to individuals whose child portion of the economic stimulus payment was not accurately computed and issued.

About TIGTA

Created by Congress in 1998, TIGTA's mission is to provide independent oversight of the IRS and protect its ability to timely and efficiently collect Federal taxes.