IRS checks await veterans, retirees

"The IRS has delivered,” IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said.

The agency has accounted for 74 percent of Social Security and Veterans Affairs beneficiaries out of about 20 million initially identified as being potential stimulus recipients. All but 5.2 million of those have been accounted for as either having filed a return, having filed a joint return, or as not being eligible for a stimulus payment.

The tax agency generally got high marks National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson on its performance in getting payments into taxpayer hands.

Olson, an independent watchdog appointed by the Treasury secretary, said there were some problems associated with the payments, including difficulties in staffing telephone lines dedicated to answering questions about taxes and the rebate. She said there was one glitch where the Social Security numbers of about 1,500 taxpayers were mistakenly disclosed when the IRS routed payments to the wrong back accounts.