http://news.excite.com/news/r/010718/06/odd-notices-dc

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some people may be disappointed by the size of the income tax cut check they receive later this summer as the Internal Revenue Service said on Tuesday it sent about 523,000 erroneous notices informing taxpayers they will get the maximum possible refund.

"We're talking about fewer than one-half of 1 percent" of all the notices, said IRS spokesman Anthony Burke. He blamed the snafu on a computer programming error.

The IRS started sending the more than 112 million notices on Monday, about a week ahead of when the first batch of checks are expected to arrive in mailboxes.

Burke said there were about 523,000 erroneous notices, which were intended to let taxpayers know when they should receive their checks and how large they will be. He said the checks will be correct but some people could get a notice promising the maximum refund and a check for less.

The IRS had intended to mail the notices earlier, but held off while Congress debated a spending bill to pay for the mailings. That bill is still bottled up on Capitol Hill.

Corrected notices are expected to be sent out by next week, Burke said.

The checks, which are being cut at eight government check printing centers around the nation, are being sent out over a period of 10 weeks and will total a maximum of $300 per person, $600 per couple filing jointly and $500 for a head of a household.

The refunds are part President Bush's 10-year, $1.35 trillion income tax cut recently enacted by Congress.

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2001