Source (example): https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/treasury-coronavirus-stimulus-checks-deceased At the end of March, Congress passed the massive $2.2 trillion CARES Act to dull the economic pain of the outbreak of the virus and subsequent shutdown on American workers and businesses. Eligible Americans received one-time payments of $1,200 if they earned less than $75,000 (at couples if less $150,000 then 2 times $1,200). The payments were tapered for higher-earners and phased out completely for individuals who earn more than $99,000. The government calculated eligibility based on 2018 or 2019 tax returns, or by a "simple tax return" with basic filing information like filing status, the number of dependents and bank information. So far so good ... but something went badly wrong when to more than 1 million death Americans were such checks sent too ... isn't it? And more as that ... many foreigners from other countries who worked total legally and legitimate once in the past for a time in the USA got such a check sent too ... for example over 100 Austrians got such an "American Present" sent too. Well ... Of course, I cannot say what exactly went wrong here and who or what is responsible for it. It is also expressly not an "indictment" against Trump now ... but I am seriously concerned about how up-to-date the data with the federal and state authorities are ... and also with regard to the upcoming election! If over 1 million dead Americans are somehow still alive with the authorities and get the $ 1,200 checks ... then they are probably also citizens with voting rights. The same applies to foreigners who have worked in the USA for a few months or years at some point in the past, and suddenly get the check ... not that they are also eligible to vote!
I wonder how 1 million dead people registered for a stimulus check and then decided not to have it direct deposited into their checking account but elected to receive an actual check? Nobody I know of got a check automatically. I had to go on line and fill out the information to even qualify. Someones lying to someone.
If you'd read the article properly you wouldn't be saying that. Go back and read it again. It is made clear why the error happened on this scale.
You'd have a good idea i you'd read the actual article and especially if youd looked at the report it referred to. It seems to have been a somewhat complex mix of lack of data sharing between government departments (which itself is a complex issue), legal and legislative restrictions and a general desire of everyone to get the payments out quickly. Accurate electoral registration, specifically in relation to deceased people, is a somewhat similar issue but largely unrelated. Not least because electoral registration is primarily a state rather than federal matter in the US. There are certainly things that could be done better in the US in that area and while better data sharing could be one element, it isn't the be-all and end-all.
A friend in Canada recently renounced her US citizenship--she's lived in Canada for more then fifty years--but still received a check. Since renouncing cost her $2500, she's decided to wait and see if she's entitled to cash it. I don't blame her for holding on to the check because us charging $2,500 for renouncing her citizenship in sicko crap.
My Canadian friend who renounced her US citizenship after living in Canada for the past fifty years (she renounced because she had to hire an accountant to do her taxes as a result of crackdowns on FBARs) and got a surprise $1200 check in the mail. She didn't apply for it and figures she got it because she collects Social Security (yes, if you earned it, you get it even if you renounce).
Boy, I'd hate to have to reconcile THAT checking account. The list of outstanding checks must be miles long !
I read ... but is this the real reason or the complete reason? I have doubts ... Yep ... and at least it is "only" the tax money of the citizens which are wasted and burned. Wasting tax money is not a special American story or issue, it happens everywhere of course ... but it is also everywhere annoying!
Why wouldn't it be? The point of sending out stimulus checks is to inject money into the economy VERY quickly. The easiest way to do this is send money to people who lodged tax returns (or whatever the US equivalent is) within a particular period of time. Cross referencing with lists of people who died - information which I suspect is not compiled at Federal level - takes time & costs money. If the money gets spent by someone other than the person you thought it was going to the same goal is achieved, if it is returned unspent then no loss. Australia did something similar in 2008 with a similar result - dead people got cheques, as did people in prison & people who weren't citizens. Then as now, people criticized this. Then as now those people either didn't understand the program or were pushing some ideological/political barrow. Oh, and the 2008 program in Australia was a spectacular success. Gave tghe economy a huge boost and helped keep the nation out of recession. As for your electoral speculation, voter rolls and taxation records aren't remotely the same thing. Maintained in different ways by different people for different purposes. I feel like that is so obvious I shouldn't have to explain it....but apparently I do.
Dude ... I don't question the checks and the reason behind them in any sort ... they are totally OK and good to help etc. I have doubts about the reasons whoich cause to the fact that they were sent to over 1 million death US citizens and many foreigners outside the USA. And even I hate Trump ... I don't saythat this is his guilt or something like this
It isn't taxes in the normal sense. Our government is actually broke and spends on credit and increased money supply. Each time they print money, the value of the dollar decreases. Indirect taxation I guess.
"Treasury sent 1 million dead US people coronavirus stimulus checks worth $1.4B" those are Trump voters I guess
Not sure why this is surprising considering the way in which they determined who got checks. They were is such a rush to appear to be doing something, I guess they never bothered to run the person's SSN through the SS death index. About a month after my grandfather died, my mom found out from an insurance company she was getting a fat check from a policy that nobody knew he even had so no claim was ever filed. The company found out by continuously comparing its customer rolls with the death index.
Well if some Austrians can receive American stimulus checks, why not dead people? At least it will be spent here - which was the intent. (Sing to the tune of Row, row, row your boat) Washington's Money Machine Turn, turn, turn the wheel all the live long day. So we can merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, spend our life away. - Jeannette
