New York’s comptroller is reporting a big increase in the number of questionable or fraudulent state tax refunds this year.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office says Friday that it had blocked more than 12,000 bogus refunds worth $43.7 million as of the start of the week.

Last year at the same point, DiNapoli’s office had identified $24 million in erroneous refunds.

Many of the incorrect returns understated income or listed too many dependents.

It’s unclear whether the big jump in incorrect or fraudulent returns is because more people are making mistakes or cheating, or because the state is getting better at catching them.

DiNapoli says each year his staff uncovers more inventive tax schemes, forcing them to use increasingly sophisticated data-driven methods to expose them.

Tax day this year is Monday.

(AP)