Please note!

This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Did the US government mistakenly send COVID-19 relief payments to noncitizens living abroad?

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

By Jacob Alabab-Moser

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YES

The Internal Revenue Service mistakenly delivered some coronavirus relief payments to some ineligible noncitizens living overseas.

A Treasury review noted that as of May 2020, the IRS had issued almost 28,000 relief payments totaling $34 million to people who filed taxes from a foreign address. The report details a variety of other errors in determining eligibility for the payments, including payments to noncitizens residing in the U.S. who did not meet the requirements relating to previous tax payments. It notes that the IRS asks recipients of any unintended payments to return them voluntarily.

In November, the IRS acknowledged its responsibility for some erroneous payments made to noncitizens living abroad. Some noncitizens received the payments because the agency already paid them regular Social Security payments arising from their previous work in the U.S.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

US Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration: Interim results of the 2020 filing season—Effect of COVID-19 shutdown on tax processing

NPR IRS says its own error sent $1,200 stimulus checks to non-Americans overseas

NPR Foreign workers living overseas mistakenly received $1,200 US stimulus checks

Internal Revenue Service Returning the Third Economic Impact Payment

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.