By Marcy GordanAP Business Writer

Nearly 1.1 million coronavirus relief pay-ments totaling some $1.4 billion went to dead people, a govern-ment watchdog report-ed Thursday. Legal and political issues hang over the misdirected taxpayer funds, the lat-est example of errors in massive aid being dis-pensed at crisis speed. More than 130 mil-lion so-called economic impact payments were sent to taxpayers as part of the $2.4 trillion coronavirus relief pack-age enacted in March. The Government Ac-countability Office, Congress’ auditing arm, cited the number of erroneous payments to deceased taxpayers in its report on the gov-ernment programs. While the govern-ment has asked survi-vors to return the mon-ey, it’s not clear they have to.  It also may be a po-

litically sensitive gam-bit for the Treasury Department to aggres-sively seek to claw back the money, especially because some recipi-ents may have died in the early months of this year from COVID-19. When billions in aid are rushed out the door in a crisis, “these are the kinds of things that happen,” said Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of advocacy group Public Citizen.  Gilbert acknowl-edged the sensitivity of the issue. But, she added, “it’s a big num-ber, particularly at this moment when our econ-omy is in free-fall. It’s a large amount of taxpay-er money that’s not do-ing what it was intend-ed to do.” The errors occurred mainly because of a lag in reporting data on who is deceased. It’s a lapse that tax experts say is almost inevitable. The revelation of more than $1 billion in

public money errone-ously paid out shines a light on the part of the government’s massive relief program with which most ordinary Americans are most fa-miliar. It follows disclo-sures that several major restaurant chains and other publicly traded companies had received emergency loans under the $670 billion pro-gram for the nation’s struggling small busi-nesses. “GAO found that more than $1 trillion in taxpayer funds have already been obligated — including more than $1 billion to deceased individuals — with lit-tle transparency into how that money is being spent,” Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., chair of the House Oversight and Reform Commit-tee, said in a statement.  The IRS didn’t use death records to pre-vent payments to de-ceased individuals for the first three batches of payments because of the legal interpretation the agency was operat-ing under, the GAO re-port says. The IRS asked in May for the money back from the deceased taxpayers’ survivors. Some legal experts have said the government may not have the legal authority to require that it be returned. Spokespeople for the Treasury Department and the IRS didn’t re-turn requests for com-ment Thursday on the report and whether the government’s position remains that the sur-vivors must return the money. The payments were by paper check, direct deposit or debit card. All adults earning up to $75,000 in adjusted gross income annually were entitled to $1,200; that amount steadily declined for those earn-

ing more and phased out for people earning over $99,000. Former Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson has said there is noth-ing in the law prohibit-ing payments from go-ing to the deceased. Nor is there anything in the law requiring people to return the payments. She notes that the lan-guage used on the IRS website does not say that returning the pay-ments is required by law. The relief payments were made to taxpayers based on the informa-tion filed on their 2019 or 2018 taxes. But it is considered a rebate on 2020 taxes. The govern-ment used the previous tax forms to help speed along payments to the public to offset some of

the economic devasta-tion from the coronavi-rus pandemic. But some people who filed those taxes may no longer be alive. Those payments are sent to an heir or executor of their estate. If the payment is based off a final tax return completed af-ter their death, an eco-nomic impact payment check may even denote, next to that person’s name, that the individ-ual is deceased. “I think the IRS will

do little or nothing to pursue collection of these payments,” Keith Fogg, clinical profes-sor at Harvard and an expert in tax law, said Thursday. “The cheap-est way for the IRS to collect is offset of a fu-ture refund. That av-enue will not exist for these taxpayers. I don’t think the IRS will take the somewhat difficult steps to pursue the heirs for this amount of money.”

Page 4 The STurgiS NewS wedNeSday, July 1, 2020

PUBLIC NOTICETHE FOLLOWING ESTATE HAVE BEEN PROBATED IN UNION DISTRICT COURT. PERSONS HAVING CLAIMS TO FILE AGAINST SAID ESTATES MUST FILE SAME NOT LATER THAN SIX MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF THE APPOINTMENT OF THE FIDUCIARY.

Estate of Jack D. Freer, Morganfield, KY. Co-Executors Alisha M. Perry, 222 Clay Street, Henderson, KY 422420 and Michael Perry, 6721 Summerfield Drive, Bettendorf, IA 52722. Date of appoint-ment June 25, 2020. Attorney Dane Sheilds, P.O. Box 476, Hen-derson, KY 42420.

Estate of Elizabeth A. Freer, Morganfield, KY. Co-Executors Alisha M. Perry, 222 Clay Street, Henderson, KY 422420 and Michael Perry, 6721 Summerfield Drive, Bettendorf, IA 52722. Date of ap-pointment June 25, 2020. Attorney Dane Sheilds, P.O. Box 476, Henderson, KY 42420.

SEEKING APPLICANTSThe Union County Judge/Executive’s office is accept-ing applications for a dispatcher. This is a full-time position with benefits, including health insurance, re-tirement & vacation, and is located in Morganfield, KY. Applications can be picked up and turned in at the Union County Judge/Executive’s office, 100 W. Main St., Morganfield, KY 42437.

Applications will be accepted until July 17, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. central time.

The Union County Fiscal Court is an Equal Opportu-nity Employer: All applicants are considered for em-ployment without regard to race, color, national ori-gin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.

7/8c

Part-Time PositionWe are seeking a part-time po-sition for water cooler cleaning and repair. Basic electrical knowl-edge beneficial. (270) 639-5140 or e-mail resume to admin@spring-mountain20.com 7/8c

Audit: U.S. Sent $1.4 Billion In Virus Relief Payments To Dead People

SEN. ROBBY MILLS, R-Henderson, asks Department for Local Government officials a question relating to COVID-19 relief pro-grams during the Inter-im Joint Committee on Local Government.