BY JOHN BOWDEN – 07/06/18 04:11 PM EDT

Hundreds of thousands of Americans stand to be denied new or renewed passports under a 2015 law requiring the IRS and State Department to deny passports to Americans with more than $51,000 in overdue tax debt.

An IRS spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that as many as 362,000 Americans fall under the category of those with outstanding debt for whom the State Department should deny passport applications or renewals.