Child Tax Credits a Source of Billions in Fraud

WASHINGTON – Children living overseas. Thousands of tax filers from the same addresses – many with no taxes owing, and of unknown legal status.

They're all in line for refunds from the Internal Revenue Service.

Watchdog reported last month that while paying out $70 million in staff bonuses and targeting conservative groups for audits, the IRS has issued billions of dollars in refund checks to illegal immigrants (aka "unauthorized workers") under the most suspicious circumstances.

The biggest moneymaker is the Additional Child Tax Credit, ushered in as part of President Obama's stimulus package, and still going. At $1,000 per dependent, undocumented immigrants got checks totaling $4.2 billion in 2010, according to a government audit. The children didn't even have to live in the U.S.

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