This IRS Letter Isn’t a Taxing Proposition

The Internal Revenue Service has sent tax refunds of up to $1,235 to some low-income families who may not have been eligible for them.

Last year, the IRS believes, 2 million people who were eligible for the earned income credit failed to file for it.

Congress told the agency to make it easier to claim this year, so the IRS sent letters to potentially eligible taxpayers whose returns failed to list the credit.

“Unfortunately, it appears . . . in some cases that we may actually have sent out a refund rather than the notice” of possible refund eligibility, said IRS spokesman Frank Keith in Washington.