50,000 Inmates Claim Tax Refunds, Report No Wages

WASHINGTON (AP) — A government investigator says nearly 50,000 prison inmates claimed more than $130 million in tax refunds this year without providing any wage information to the IRS.

A report by the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration stops short of saying the refunds were fraudulently claimed. It does, however, say the Internal Revenue Service should investigate further.

The report, scheduled for release on Thursday, is the latest in a series of audits looking at prison inmates claiming tax credits and other government payments.

The report noted that the IRS identified nearly 250,000 fraudulent tax returns during the 2010 filing season — a 50 percent increase over 2009 — preventing $1.48 billion in fraudulent refunds.