Foreign workers living outside the United States were mistakenly sent $1,200 stimulus checks that were spent stimulating other economies around the world.
A tax firm told NPR that it had clients in 129 countries receive a stimulus check from the federal government. Thousands of other foreign workers living outside of the U.S. also received the payment, which was supposed to be used by families to buy goods and services in their communities to help pump money into companies struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.
Government officials said the error was the fault of people who incorrectly filed their taxes to make it seem as though they live in the U.S. Some foreign workers who received the check have been trying to amend their taxes out of fear that the mistaken payments could put their legal status at risk. Others spent the money in their home countries.
Sprintax, a company that prepares taxes for foreign workers, has filed amended tax forms for 5,000 customers who may have needed to adjust their information to reflect that they live outside the U.S. The company said that was roughly 5% of their total foreign customer base. Last year, Sprintax filed just 400 amendments.
It is not clear that Sprintax’s 5% amendment rate is true of the 700,000 foreign workers who filed taxes in the U.S., but NPR estimated that as much as $43 million in stimulus checks may have been sent to individuals living outside the country.
There have been several issues with the distribution of the stimulus payments. At least $1.4 billion were distributed in payments to people who were dead. Congress has not finalized its next coronavirus relief package, but both Republicans and Democrats have expressed support for another round of stimulus payments.
