While the tax department has asked the families of the deceased to return the money, it's not clear they have to.
Nearly 1.1 million coronavirus relief payments totalling some $US1.4 billion went to dead people, a US government watchdog reported on Thursday . Legal and political issues hang over the misdirected taxpayer funds, the latest example of errors in massive aid being dispensed at crisis speed.
It also may be a politically sensitive gambit for the Treasury Department to aggressively seek to claw back the money, especially because some recipients may have died in the early months of this year from COVID-19.When billions in aid are rushed out the door in a crisis, "these are the kinds of things that happen," said Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of advocacy group Public Citizen.
The revelation of more than $US1 billion in public money erroneously paid out shines a light on the part of the government's massive relief program with which most ordinary Americans are most familiar. It follows disclosures that several major restaurant chains and other publicly traded companies had received emergency loans under the $US670 billion program for the nation's struggling small businesses.
The IRS asked in May for the money back from the deceased taxpayers' survivors. Some legal experts have said the government may not have the legal authority to require that it be returned.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
EU nations reportedly planning to block US tourists over virus responseEU nations may close their borders to US travelers as they seek to reopen their economies to tourism because of how Washington has handled the pandemic, The New York Times reports.
Read more »
Disaster unfolding in the US as virus resurgence hits new peaksHealth authorities are blaming complacency, especially among young adults, for the rapid spread of the coronavirus across the United States.
Read more »
Europe unlikely to let US citizens in after reopening bordersBlock for more than 15 million Americans estimated to travel to Europe each year, due to Trump&x27;s handling of coronavirus.
Read more »
Australian fitness giant F45 goes public in the USAustralian fitness giant F45 Training is going public in the US, with the business set to be listed on Wall Street. 9News
Read more »
'Fresh spike' of COVID-19 cases to dramatically delay reopening of US economy | Sky News AustraliaUS contributor Cam Stewart says the “fresh spike” of COVID-19 infections in the United States will dramatically impact the expected recovery in the coming months. \n\nHealth experts warned of a second wave of the pandemic in the US after more than 34,000 new infections were recorded in past 24-hours. \n\nMr Stewart told Sky News the reopening strategies of a number of states were delayed due to the rise in infections and New York was pushing for travellers arriving from hotspots to be quarantined. \n\nMr Stewart said Donald Trump was banking his re-election on the economy recovering to some degree before November 3.\n\n“This wave of infections we’re now seeing, the fresh spikes, really makes this much less likely that we’re going to get any sort of serious economic recovery before November.” \n\nImage: AP
Read more »
Coronavirus cases in the US surge to highest levels since AprilNewly confirmed COVID-19 infections across the US are back near their peak level of two months ago, as New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced a quarantine on arrivals from states with high infection rates.
Read more »