A judge for New York’s Southern District lambasted the Internal Revenue Service yesterday for granting a New York couple a $10,000 tax refund and then suing to get the money back only because their tax return was three days late.

“Beset by budget cuts, our federal tax collectors have chosen to focus on cases that really count,” wrote Judge Jed S. Rakoff at the outset of his ruling in the case of Susan Lesinski and Peter McGrath.