IRS completes pandemic unemployment refunds, pays $15 billion back to taxpayers
The IRS said Friday that it has finished repaying nearly 12 million taxpayers who overpaid on their 2020 returns after getting unemployment benefits during the pandemic.
The agency said they refunded $14.8 billion or roughly $1,200 per taxpayer.
Some taxpayers got a check, while others saw the money applied to debts or taxes due.
Officials said the money was due to a change in the law that exempted made up to $10,200 in unemployment income in 2020 from federal taxes for those with total incomes less than $150,000.
By the time the law was signed in March 2021, many taxpayers had already filed their returns. The IRS said it made automatic adjustments to apply the exclusion, correcting 14 million returns and resulting in money owed back to nearly 12 million taxpayers.
