Audit: Companies Overpaid $22.6M By Revenue Dept.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A new audit says the state Department of Revenue overpaid $22.6 million in refunds to two companies, and the only reason the mistake was caught was because the businesses returned the money.
Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera's Office said in a review released Monday that the overpayments last year went through five levels of state review before they were sent.
The revenue department says the complicated refunds were from legal settlements that involved multiple tax periods and tax type. It says the mistake was corrected, no money was lost to the state treasury and greater controls have been put in place for handling these types of tax settlements.
Purpera's office also criticized the agency as having lax controls over a state-issued credit card. The revenue department says it added new oversight.
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