As reports of another stimulus check surface, an independent watchdog group has found that the U.S. government sent over a million stimulus checks to deceased Americans, and many taxpayers are not pleased. Per a report by The Washington Post, the payments have totaled an estimated $1.4 billion. Now many Americans — including those who did not get a stimulus check of their own after all this time, are asking for an explanation.
The federal government has known for a while of many stimulus checks being sent that were addressed to deceased Americans, though they reportedly did not know the extent of the problem. Payments were issued based on the latest tax information available — either 2018 or 2019 — which did not account for many deaths in the country. However, the confusion was even greater than anticipated, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office is suggesting some changes to make sure it doesn't happen again.
The GAO's report advised the IRS that it "should consider cost-effective options for notifying ineligible recipients how to return payments." The IRS agreed with this advice in a public response. However, many analysts have questioned whether the IRS has the power or the capacity to take further actions in seeking repayment of these mistaken stimulus checks, and the GAO reportedly indicated that it does not. The IRS has previously asked the American people to return stimulus checks sent to deceased loved ones.
As for the possibility of future payments, the GAO report calls on Congress to "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." Whether there will even be another round of stimulus checks remains in question, but a good chunk of eligible Americans are still waiting on the first check right now.
Those Americans were among the most outraged over the mistaken checks sent to taxpayers that have passed away. Here's a look at what they are saying on social media about the millions of mix-ups.