SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Hundreds of thousands of taxpayers from legal immigrants to soldiers based abroad are missing out on the tax rebates going out to millions of others to stimulate the economy.

That's because of a provision that was intended to keep illegal immigrants from getting rebates.

When lawmakers decided to send out the checks, they formulated it so only taxpayers who have Social Security numbers would qualify.

The rule caught many taxpayers who would have qualified, except they filed jointly with a spouse whose immigration status doesn't allow them to have a Social Security number. Among them are some of the 288,000 troops stationed overseas who may have married a foreigner.

One California lawmaker says a "soldier not getting that check is stupid."

A military officer says they can't do anything about IRS policy.