Family Life

04.14.09 | FL News Team

The New York State Comptroller's Office reports it stopped over 38-million-dollars in questionable tax refunds from being paid so far in 2009. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says that is because his office is responsible for auditing all bills for the state prior to payment, including personal income and corporate tax refunds

DiNapoli says personal income scams totaling over eleven-million-dollars range from the elaborate to the blatantly obvious with some people falsely claiming they have children when they do not, while others use fake social security numbers or addresses.

When auditors examine corporate tax refunds, they verify that corporations provide adequate documentation when the companies report large operating losses. During March, auditors stopped three improper corporation tax refunds totaling over 26-million-dollars from being paid because of insufficient evidence of losses.

DiNapoli says his office is cooperating with the State's Department of Taxation and Finance to sort through the honest mistakes and the actual fraud cases.