Almost 1,000 people received two tax refund cheques instead of one after duplicates were printed and posted by mistake, the Commissioner for Revenue has said.

A total of 952 were addressed to people in Marsaxlokk, the other 48 to people in Żebbuġ.

The commissioner said that, in the coming days, these people will be contacted by mail to receive instructions on how to return the extra cheque.

The banks have already been notified and instructed to issue a stop payment on these cheques.

The cheques, ranging from €60 to €140, had been announced in the Budget for 2023.

They are to be paid to people who earn less than €60,000 and will cost the government €26 million.

However, since they began to be issued, people on social media have pointed out several issues with the cheques, including that they were sent to people who no longer live in the country. 

Sandra Gauci, vlogger and deputy secretary general of the ADPD, shared a video on social media highlighting how one person received two cheques despite having left Malta two years ago. 

One was for €100 and the other was for €125.

"How is his tax being refunded if he left Malta in 2021?" she asked in the video that has been widely shared and commented on.

Questions have been sent to the finance ministry.