Children don't inherit their parents' debts... until now [Program halted now]

[kranky]

UPDATE April 15 - The Social Security Administration has stopped providing information to the IRS concerning this "program", due to public outrage and so many people contacting their elected representatives.

http://consumerist.com/2014/04/15/s...-seizing-tax-refunds-to-pay-decades-old-debt/

Kind of odd that they first defended this by saying they had no choice since it was a law, but now that the heat is on they can unilaterially choose to stop. Good for everyone who raised a fuss with Congress over this ridiculous initiative.

Original post:
The government has started to seize tax refunds from children of parents who (according to the government) received overpayments of Social Security benefits.

The government eliminated the 10-year statute of limitations on repayment of debt to the government. And when the people who received the overpayments have since died, the are seizing tax refunds of the children - starting with the eldest when they can find a good current address.

The rationale is that if the parent received survivors benefits that were paid for the benefit of the children, then the children should have to repay. I'm astounded.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...ac8eae-bf4d-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_story.html

 

[Uppsala9496]

Wow that is shitty.

So in that same context, since my dad is considered 90% disabled by the VA from his time in the service (left in '68) and he didn't start getting benefit payments until 2012, does that mean the government owes him 44 years of back payments since they underpaid him?

 

[OutHouse]

ummm, wow.

survivor benefits are paid when there are minor children, payments stop when kid reaches 18. I fail to see how in the fuck the government can hold a person accountable for what their parents did when that person was a child.

 

[Scarpozzi]

BOOOM! I like it...though I doubt they're factoring in inflation. It seems they're going after the wrong people here.

I just wish they'd start cracking down on all the true fraud and start putting the stops on people abusing the system. If you saw how many people are "disabled" that could work, it'd make you sick. We carry too many people in this country that don't readily contribute.

 

[OutHouse]

this is some bullshit.

When Grice was 4, back in 1960, her father died, leaving her mother with five children to raise. Until the kids turned 18, Sadie Grice got survivor benefits from Social Security to help feed and clothe them.

Now, Social Security claims it overpaid someone in the Grice family — it’s not sure who — in 1977. After 37 years of silence, four years after Sadie Grice died, the government is coming after her daughter. Why the feds chose to take Mary’s money, rather than her surviving siblings’, is a mystery.

 

[lupi]

Gotta pay for obamacare somehow.

 

[Printer Bandit]

And still people will take it up the ass happily.

I forget what people in the past fought revolutions for.

 

[Aharami]

what the fuck is this shit!?!

 

[Sonikku]

Americans sure don't like paying their debts it seems.

 

[drbrock]

This is just the start of stuff like this. In another 10 years things are going to be getting aggressive in terms of getting tax revenue. The IRS is getting many other countries to agree to treaties for finding overseas US money.

I like how it is a one way street. If the government underpaid you, too bad lol.

 

[Ns1]

The aggressive effort to collect old debts started three years ago — the result of a single sentence tucked into the farm bill lifting the 10-year statute of limitations on old debts to Uncle Sam.

sneaky sneaky.

solution: structure taxes as to never get a refund?

 

[poofyhairguy]

solution: structure taxes as to never get a refund?

If you didn't already do that to dodge the mandate!

 

[Lithium381]

keep licking the boots of your supreme authority. they claim they have authority and you lick their boots. it's a good system. for them.

 

[Schmide]

Gotta pay for obamacare somehow.

It's all so simple. Sneak a rider into the farm bill (2008) to remove limitations on debt to support obamacare.

Edit: Removed republican I really don't know so it isn't fair.

 

[lxskllr]

solution: structure taxes as to never get a refund?

That's what I do. If I want a bank, I use a bank(credit union really). The government isn't a bank I trust, so they get a check.

 

[MrDudeMan]

That's what I do. If I want a bank, I use a bank(credit union really). The government isn't a bank I trust, so they get a check.

It's truly depressing how few people understand this.

 

[Fern]

I don't see how a court can uphold this.

A minor can't even legally enter into a contract. I don't see how they can be held responsible.

Paying back someone else's debt is utter BS.

Fern

 

[MongGrel]

Is it just me ?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2377695

 

[Jaskalas]

Reminds me of Kim Jong killing the families of undesirables. May not be North Korea just yet, but it's certainly a collective punishment.

 

[kranky]

I don't see how a court can uphold this.

A minor can't even legally enter into a contract. I don't see how they can be held responsible.

Paying back someone else's debt is utter BS.

Fern

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Jhhnn]

Reminds me of Kim Jong killing the families of undesirables. May not be North Korea just yet, but it's certainly a collective punishment.

You never tire of false equivalency, huh? Taking a tax refund is like mass murder only for propaganda purposes, and you're not very good at it.

The practice is more akin to civil forfeiture in the WoD than anything else.

It's appalling behavior from our govt. Large or small, govt needs to have integrity, and this isn't it.

Grice & her attorney are to be applauded for taking this to the mat. They serve Justice.

 

[Kwatt]

Does this mean if someones parent goes to college and therfore gets a better paying job. The children benefit. If the parent never paid off their college debt can the children be collected from?

Of if the children lived in a house that is foreclosed on are the children liable for any losses.


I can see a lot of potential

 

[norseamd]

And still people will take it up the ass happily. I forget what people in the past fought revolutions for.

exactly

 

[olds]

Wow that is shitty.

So in that same context, since my dad is considered 90% disabled by the VA from his time in the service (left in '68) and he didn't start getting benefit payments until 2012, does that mean the government owes him 44 years of back payments since they underpaid him?

Using their logic, when your father passes, you'll continue to receive his payments.

 

[Miramonti]

That's theft.