More: At the very least, the agency needs to have in hand the annual returns for last year to know who is married and who has dependent children, information that often changes

Determining who is eligible and for how much money will require major reprogramming of an outdated computer system that relies on technology long since abandoned by business. The software changes will have to be made as an estimated 135 million individual income tax returns arrive between now and April 15

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. told reporters on Thursday that he did not believe the tax patch would affect the new checks. Agency officials who would not speak on the record because they were not authorized were not so sanguine and pointed to the Congressional joint committee report’s warnings about adding to the workload in the big filing season

Me: It's always an easy game to dish on the I.R.S. and neglect them but then when you need them to be flexible and efficent ..... doh!

whoo hoo, in theory.