Aid payments were misdirected due to a lack of data reconciliation – the survivors are now supposed to pay the money back.
US $ 1,200 government checks helped countless people in the coronavirus crisis – but were mistakenly sent to more than a million people. As the U.S. Court of Auditors wrote in a report released on Thursday, nearly 1.1 million payments totaling just under $ 1.4 billion (€ 1.24 billion) were made to the deceased by the end of April.
The Ministry of Finance and the tax authorities had not compared their data with the declarations of the deceased from the social security authority before the aid checks were sent, the report said. The background was therefore legal uncertainties. Data reconciliation was only introduced before a fourth payout round and after a legal clarification.
Extent still unclear
The tax authority published a notice on its website in early May that payments made by mistake to the dead had to be reimbursed. However, according to the Court of Auditors, the authority initially did not plan a direct request for repayment to the actual recipients. It is still unclear how many checks have been returned or to what extent the banks have rejected transfers of $ 1,200 to the account of the deceased.
The aid checks were decided at the end of March as part of the largest bailout package in US history. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the money should protect people from possible financial bottlenecks and support consumption.
Up to $ 2,400
US citizens with an annual salary of up to $ 75,000 received checks of $ 1,200, while working couples with a salary of up to $ 150,000 received $ 2,400. In addition, there was $ 500 per child. The money could be paid out as a check, bank transfer or directly to a bank card.
By the end of May, 160 million payments totaling $ 269 billion had been made, according to the Court’s report. The entire rescue package, which also provided aid for troubled corporations and small and medium-sized companies, was worth around two trillion dollars.
At the time, criticism had caused the US President Donald Trump’s name to be printed on the checks. There has never been anything like this when the tax authorities paid out. The addition of “President Donald J. Trump” was also reportedly delayed the issuing of the checks for a few days.
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