Here is something that will give you a nice chuckle in the morning. Apparently, a new report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration suggests that prisoners, dead people and children qualified for the 2009 tax break to spur car buying. The report went on to criticize the Internal Revenue Service for misapplying the refund in some cases.

The report said that the IRS should have done more to verify who was actually making the claim for the qualified motor vehicle (QMV) deduction. The tax break, which ended on Dec. 31, 2009 was a part of the Obama administration’s economic stimulus package.

The inspector general said that taxpayers who claimed the deduction were not required to show independent proof that they bought a vehicle.

“While no amount of fraud is acceptable, more than 4.3 million taxpayers claimed more than $7.2 billion in qualified motor vehicle deductions and only a small percentage involved questionable claims,” the IRS said in a statement. “In instances where there are questionable deductions, the IRS will take steps to review the claims and conduct audits as warranted.”

The report said that the IRS failed to identify 4,257 people who made QMC claims – those people claimed more than $151.1 million in deductions.

- By: Omar Rana

Source: Reuters