Even dead financial institutions, it appears, are eligible for tax refunds from the federal stimulus.

Today's Wall Street Journal lead with a report that J.P. Morgan Chase was nearing a deal for a tax refund of nearly $2.6 billion, the latest example of a company taking advantage of a little-known part of President Obama's economic stimulus program.

The stimulus law allows companies to apply losses from 2008 or 2009 to taxes paid five years ago, instead of the current two-year look back.

Another entity that may qualify for the stimulus refund is the estate of defunct Lehman Brothers. The firm said in a December 2009 securities filing said that it "was currently evaluating the potential impact of the five-year net operating loss carry-back provision recently enacted into federal law."

Lehman already collected a $350 million refund in 2009 by carrying back losses to previously paid taxes.