State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says his office has stopped $21.3 million in questionable or fraudulent income tax refunds from being paid so far this year.

DiNapoli says the majority of the questionable refunds were for returns filed by taxpayers who claimed refunds based on incorrect information like fake dependents or understated income.

He say auditors also stopped ove4 $2.2 million in refunds that were linked to unscrupulous tax preparers filing false returns.

DiNapoli said. “We’ll stay one step ahead of the schemes used by tax cheats, and look to ensure only legitimate refunds are paid.”

DiNapoli's office has paid out 4.6 million state refunds totaling $4.4 billion dollars in 2017.  Another 471,000 refunds totaling $466 million are expected to be paid in the coming days.

 

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