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Lawmakers Demand That Foreign Workers Return Relief Checks

Posted on Aug. 12, 2020

A group of House Republicans wants non-U.S. citizens to return any coronavirus relief checks they may have received, following reports that thousands of economic impact payments were sent in error to foreign workers.

“If these reports are true, it is imperative that these erroneously sent funds are returned to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) immediately,” the lawmakers said in an August 11 letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Recent reporting has alleged that individuals with temporary work visas from dozens of countries mistakenly filled out their tax forms and appeared to be U.S. citizens as a result. Some of them are spending the $1,200 checks in their home countries, according to a report from NPR.

The 10 signatories on the letter, led by Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., asked Mnuchin to ensure that any future payments are sent only to those intended to receive them and to work to get the ineligible payments back.

“Our economic response to the public health crisis must be meaningful, but it also must be measured to ensure we are continuing to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” the letter says.

Foreign workers are just the latest group confirmed to have mistakenly received relief checks during the implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136) that established $1,200 economic impact payments in response to the pandemic.

Some dead and incarcerated individuals also received checks in error, and others whose filing status changed between tax years 2018 and 2019 received duplicate checks.

With negotiations for a next relief package stalled, it’s unclear whether a second round of payments will be sent to U.S. citizens in the coming months. Senate Republicans have explicitly deemed dead and incarcerated individuals ineligible for the payments in their proposal for CARES Act 2.0, but make no mention of foreign workers.

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