IRS erred on some tax refund letters; vows checks will be correct

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday it had incorrectly promised several hundred thousand taxpayers they would get tax refunds larger than they will actually receive.

The incorrect letters went to about 523,000 people.

IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti blamed the error on a computer programming problem but promised that the actual refund checks will be correct.

"This week we mailed important letters to more than 112 million taxpayers about the amount and timing of the advanced payment checks that they will be receiving soon. The first checks will be going into the mails this Friday," Rossotti said in a written statement.

"After the letters were printed, we found that a small fraction -- less than one half of one percent -- have a payment amount that is greater than the check will actually be.

"It is important that taxpayers understand that all the advanced payment checks will be in the correct amount -- and more than 99.5 percent of taxpayers receiving the initial letters from the IRS will have the correct information about the payments.

"The programming error affects the letters only. We regret any inconvenience and expect to send affected taxpayers a corrected letter by next week."

Single taxpayers will receive a maximum $300 and married couples a maximum $600 under the 11-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut signed into law by President Bush.

However, the IRS said that because of certain credits and deductions, some taxpayers will not get the maximum.

The IRS said taxpayers who have questions should look for the explanation of how the refund was calculated and compare that to their 2000 tax form.