Most people are under the impression that fooling the IRS is
a pretty difficult thing to do, but based on recent news that the IRS issued
$5.6 billion in fraudulent educational tax credits in 2012, that’s looking
easier and easier to do these days.
In 2012, 3.6 million taxpayers, most of them students,
received funds for school in the form of credits. But for the vast majority of
them, the IRS never received a tuition statement!
And, believe it or not, the IRS, as of yet, does not know
how to identify which claims were fulfilled in error and which ones weren’t.
The fact remains that money went to students who attended
non-eligible schools and who didn’t take the required amount of classes to
receive breaks or credits. Though it’s still working on fixing mistakes made in
the past, the IRS is now trying to be more aware of its credits and sending
them only to qualifying individuals, but that’s still a lot of money lost!
The IRS isn’t taking the blame in stride. Instead,
it points the finger at Congress, saying that if it would just simplify
education tax credits, restore budget cuts, and provide more tools for
verifying student eligibility, these problems wouldn’t exist.
Regardless of who is to blame, the fact remains that the IRS
needs to step up its game and only send out education credits to those students
who rightfully deserve them and are working hard to secure them.