Social Security Administration using the IRS to seize tax refunds on alleged overpayment long ago.
I am just fine with my tax dollars going to support our federal government as I can't afford to hire an infantry division to keep Vladimir Putin out of my backyard, or pave the roads so I can show houses to clients.
I do wish we had a more simplified tax code that does not require hundreds(yes hundreds!) of hours to document legal deductions and keep accurate records for our real estate business.
If you did not read the story in the Washington Post recently, it told how the Social Security Administration was using the IRS to seize the tax refunds of family members of deceased individuals for money the SSA believed they overpaid to individuals, that in some cases goes back to the 1970's and 1960's!
The living relative's first clue was a threatening letter from the SSA that their tax refund had been seized by the IRS for an UNDOCUMENTED over-payment by the SSA to their deceased relative long, long ago. No documents of proof, mind you, but the living relative is now without their refund.
This goes back to an overlooked line in the Farm Bill passed back in 2008 that allows the US government to collect debts over ten years old, and started to be enforced by cash strapped agencies in 2011.
There is already some push back after The Post story broke as some lawmakers are sounding off that this is clearly wrong and the SSA is backing off already.
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Update: The SSA is now saying that they will not seek repayment of debts over ten years old and that they will work with individuals with other options IF the people contact them.
Our elected officials need to now go back and amend the law to eliminate that provision of allowing government agencies the right to collect payments over ten years old and insist that goverment agencies provide written documentation and go through proper due process before resorting to a tax refund seizure.
My opinion. What is yours?
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