Stimulus checks to dead people
More than 1 Million Trump stimulus checks were mailed out to dead people, totaling over $1.3 Billion.Meanwhile lots of live people haven't been getting them.
What does one have to do to get those checks ? Wait. Don't answer that.
In response to:
Treasury sent more than 1 million coronavirus stimulus payments to dead people, congressional watchdog finds.
The checks sent to dead people as of April 30 totaled nearly $1.4 billion, according to the Government Accountability Office
By Erica Werner
June 25, 2020 at 8:09 p.m. EDT
The federal government sent coronavirus stimulus payments to almost 1.1 million dead people totaling nearly $1.4 billion, Congress’s independent watchdog reported Thursday.
The Washington Post previously reported that the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service disbursed some payments of up to $1,200 each to dead people. But the astonishing scope of the problem had not been known.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office, an independent investigative agency that reports to Congress, issued the finding as part of a comprehensive report on the nearly $3 trillion in coronavirus relief spending approved by Congress in March and April. It said it had received the information from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration in an accounting as of April 30.
The revelation comes as President Trump and some members of his administration advocate for another round of stimulus checks. The news that so much money has gone to the dead could add to reluctance from some Republicans to agree to more direct relief payments.
The GAO said that the payments to dead people came as Treasury and the IRS rushed to disburse some 160.4 million of these payments totaling $269 billion after the Cares Act was passed in March. The problem relates partly to the fact that, while the IRS has access to the Social Security Administration’s full set of death records, the Treasury Department and its Bureau of the Fiscal Service — which actually issue the payments — do not, the GAO said.
The report said that Congress should “provide Treasury with access to the Social Security Administration’s full set of death records, and require that Treasury consistently use it, to help reduce similar types of improper payments.”
The GAO also recommended that the IRS “should consider cost-effective options for notifying ineligible recipients how to return payments.” The IRS agreed with this recommendation in a response to the GAO.
The IRS has previously said that stimulus payments issued in the name of dead people have to be returned. But aside from announcing on its website on May 6 that stimulus payments made to dead or incarcerated individuals should be returned, the IRS does not have plans to take additional steps toward recouping the payments, the GAO said.
The report makes clear how, in the mad dash to pass legislation to prop up an economy in free-fall in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, mistakes were made.
The Cares Act directed the stimulus payments to people who filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return. The payments went to people making up to $99,000 annually. According to the GAO, IRS officials raised questions with Treasury as the Cares Act was being drafted about the possibility that payments could go to people who filed tax returns but subsequently died. However, IRS counsel determined they did not have the legal authority to deny payments to people who had filed a return, even if they were deceased at the time of payment.....
Treasury sent more than 1 million coronavirus stimulus payments to dead people, congressional watchdog finds.
The checks sent to dead people as of April 30 totaled nearly $1.4 billion, according to the Government Accountability Office
By Erica Werner
June 25, 2020 at 8:09 p.m. EDT
The federal government sent coronavirus stimulus payments to almost 1.1 million dead people totaling nearly $1.4 billion, Congress’s independent watchdog reported Thursday.
The Washington Post previously reported that the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service disbursed some payments of up to $1,200 each to dead people. But the astonishing scope of the problem had not been known.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office, an independent investigative agency that reports to Congress, issued the finding as part of a comprehensive report on the nearly $3 trillion in coronavirus relief spending approved by Congress in March and April. It said it had received the information from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration in an accounting as of April 30.
The revelation comes as President Trump and some members of his administration advocate for another round of stimulus checks. The news that so much money has gone to the dead could add to reluctance from some Republicans to agree to more direct relief payments.
The GAO said that the payments to dead people came as Treasury and the IRS rushed to disburse some 160.4 million of these payments totaling $269 billion after the Cares Act was passed in March. The problem relates partly to the fact that, while the IRS has access to the Social Security Administration’s full set of death records, the Treasury Department and its Bureau of the Fiscal Service — which actually issue the payments — do not, the GAO said.
The report said that Congress should “provide Treasury with access to the Social Security Administration’s full set of death records, and require that Treasury consistently use it, to help reduce similar types of improper payments.”
The GAO also recommended that the IRS “should consider cost-effective options for notifying ineligible recipients how to return payments.” The IRS agreed with this recommendation in a response to the GAO.
The IRS has previously said that stimulus payments issued in the name of dead people have to be returned. But aside from announcing on its website on May 6 that stimulus payments made to dead or incarcerated individuals should be returned, the IRS does not have plans to take additional steps toward recouping the payments, the GAO said.
The report makes clear how, in the mad dash to pass legislation to prop up an economy in free-fall in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, mistakes were made.
The Cares Act directed the stimulus payments to people who filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return. The payments went to people making up to $99,000 annually. According to the GAO, IRS officials raised questions with Treasury as the Cares Act was being drafted about the possibility that payments could go to people who filed tax returns but subsequently died. However, IRS counsel determined they did not have the legal authority to deny payments to people who had filed a return, even if they were deceased at the time of payment.....
Comments (6)
They can use that money to give a second stimulus to the American people.
Some senator wants to narrow who will get a second stimulus.
He said people on social security, SSI, etc. should not receive a check because they have no lost of income.
I agree. They should give stimulus to people who are collecting unemployment and can't find a job.
From SNOPES:
Claim
As stated in a meme, "Democrats killed a bill for tuition assistance for children of veterans killed in battle, THEN APPROVE subsidizing the education and healthcare of 'Ilegal Immigrants.'"
Rating
Mixture
Mixture
About this rating
What's True
In 2019 Democrats in the New York state Legislature blocked a bill that would have expanded eligibility for an existing program that offered tuition assistance to members of Gold Star families. Also, in a small number of states, certain education and Medicaid benefits are already available to immigrants living in the country illegally who meet specified criteria.
What's False
None of the statements in the meme was unconditionally true nationwide in the U.S. And the New York bill in question did not stop tuition assistance being provided to families of service members who were killed in combat because those benefits were already in place.
There are people here that go across state lines and get SNAP benefits and brag about it. It's no wonder Illinois stays bankrupt.
I'll blame it more on Trump, if it's not corrected, or if he typically blames it on someone prior.