Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Experts Say Foreign Workers Living Overseas Should Return US Stimulus Checks

Aline Barros

   Foreigners who temporarily worked in the U.S. and mistakenly received
   federal stimulus checks are expected to return the money to the
   Internal Revenue Service, legal experts told VOA.

   Thousands of foreign workers are believed to have found $1,200 in their
   bank accounts or received a check signed by President Donald Trump in
   the mail. Some reportedly have spent the money while others are taking
   steps to ensure their visa and immigration status [1]is not imperiled
   for having received it.

   "Now you've got a bunch of people out there wondering, what are they
   supposed to do? And what they're supposed to do is return [the money]
   to the IRS," Janet Holtzblatt, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings
   Tax Policy Center, told VOA.

   Holtzblatt explained that most foreign workers must use the 1040-NR
   form when they pay taxes. The NR stands for nonresident.

   "But it appears that some people were confused. '¦ Maybe they were
   confused by which form to file, and some people -- who would be
   considering nonresident aliens under the tax code -- filed the regular
   1040," she said.

   The 1040 is a form used by individual U.S. taxpayers and was the basis
   for receiving stimulus checks.

   "So, the IRS did not know that they were non-resident aliens because
   the only way that the IRS knows is by their reporting," she added.

   A significant proportion of the recipients are believed to be among the
   hundreds of thousands of college students who lived in the U.S.
   temporarily while working at seasonal low-wage jobs.

   $1,200 eligibility

   The CARES Act, which mandated federal payments to moderate and
   low-income Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, had specific
   rules on eligibility.

References

   1. https://www.npr.org/2020/08/05/898903600/foreign-workers-living-overseas-mistakenly-received-1-200-u-s-stimulus-checks

.