The mistakes could be from $2 to $40 a paycheck, with $20 probably being the average in most cases, he added.

Roberts said Tax Commission officials hope to have the problem fixed from 10 days to two weeks.

But at that date, some if not most of those 150,000 poor souls could be in their third two-week pay period.

If 150,000 were affected, at $20 per pay period for three paychecks, that would be $9 million over-withheld from the unfortunate Utahns.

"We don't know exactly what went wrong, but we're going to find out," said Roberts. "We're going to find out exactly who was affected." And then the Tax Commission will decide the best method to adjust the withholding forms and get them to the right employers.

Once the individuals affected are found and the mistake in the formula is figured out, those individuals' employers will get new Tax Commission withhold forms, so the correct withholding will be made from that point on through out the rest of 2008.

But currently no attempt will be made by the Tax Commission to refund or otherwise make those harmed individuals whole — except that in April 2009 when each individual income tax payer files their 2008 tax form, those who had too much withheld in early 2008 will either get that much more back in refund or will pay that much less in tax, if tax is due.

Roberts said it is also unknown exactly how much it will cost to fix the mistake, but he believes that can be handled within the Tax Commission's budget.

"I think once we explain to the (affected) taxpayers," said Curtis, they will understand. "It's unfortunate and not right. If it were a $100 million mistake, then it might make sense" to try a refund. But at this level, it just doesn't, he added.

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E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com