Report on tax refund project garners GOP critiques

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-La.), who heads the Oversight subcommittee on the panel, have repeatedly pressed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to release details of the program. With the report now out in the open, the two were quick to paint it as a waste of taxpayer resources.

{mosads}“Over the past two years, I have expressed concerns with this program and its effectiveness. After multiple attempts to hide the ball, Treasury released a report detailing the debit card pilot program,” said Boustany. “Instead of hiding program failures, Treasury needs to be up front and transparent about how they are spending Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars.”

The two also noted that 12.5 percent of the invites to join the program were never received, as they were sent to the wrong address.

In January of 2011, the Treasury touted the new initiative as a way to get refund dollars quickly into the hands of low- and moderate-income Americans, including those that lacked bank accounts to deposit refund checks. The program was announced in September of 2010.

“We believe the pilot produced useful information that will inform efforts going forward to transition paper check tax refunds to electronic refunds,” said Treasury spokesman Matt Anderson.