IRS promises to fix stimulus check problem

ST. LOUIS — Overdue economic stimulus checks will soon be mailed to about a quarter of a million married couples who had been denied the money because of an IRS glitch.

When a couple marries and a spouse — usually the woman — changes names, the couple is supposed to alert the Social Security Administration.

But tens of thousands didn’t and were unaware of the consequences until this year, when they didn’t cash in on the rebate package enacted in February.

The IRS told The Associated Press last month that stimulus checks would go only to those whose names and Social Security numbers matched.

But last week, the IRS changed course and said on its Web site that it regretted the inconvenience.