At least 18 billionaires got federal stimulus checks, report says

CBS "News" ^ | 11/04/2021 | Aimee Picchi

[simpson96]

At least 18 billionaires — and hundreds of other ultra-wealthy individuals — received federal stimulus checks even though the payments were aimed at helping poor and middle-income households weather the pandemic's economic crisis, according to a new report from ProPublica.

About 270 wealthy people received payments in the first round of stimulus checks directed by lawmakers in 2020, despite having a total of $5.7 billion in income, according to the the report, which cited a trove of IRS data on thousands of the nation's wealthiest individuals ProPublica said it had obtained.

These rich taxpayers received stimulus checks after tapping complex tax deductions to reduce their net incomes to less than zero, qualifying them for the checks, the report noted. Under the law, the full payments of $1,200 per single taxpayer and $2,400 for married couples were only available to single people earning less than $75,000 or couples with incomes below $150,000.

Included among the billionaires who received stimulus checks are philanthropist George Soros, worth $7.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and financier Ira Rennert, worth $3.7 billion, the report noted. Rennert didn't respond to questions

[simpson96]

While I agree with the sentiment of this article that billionaires shouldn't have received stimulus checks, the buzzwords sprinkled in this CSB article "ultra-wealthy", "rich taxpapyers", make me sick - geared to try and make the reader feel resentment towards the rich, i.e. the successful.

[aynrandfreak]

I like ripping on Soros as much as the next guy, but they probably sent unsolicited checks, and most billionaires have signature stamps for their staff to endorse a high volume of checks.

[GOPJ]

White liberal elites got money from the government? OMG - how can it be? /s

[GOPJ]

Included among the billionaires who received stimulus checks are philanthropist George Soros, worth $7.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and financier Ira Rennert, worth $3.7 billion, the report noted.

[pas]

The problem is they just sent the money out based on some formula. They are now trying to claw back money with interest from people they sent the money to.

[BigEdLB]

I wish I’d have gotten this check earlier. There’s a Caribbean island where my senior staff and I could have have done research

[George from New England]

And the wife still hasn’t gotten hers.

Not even gonna bother to find out why.

If I try to reach out to the congresscritters or senator here I will be forced to put our personal information at further risk.

No way to simply make a govt agency take your name and address and review your status.

[ctdonath2]

Funny, those complaining about billionaires getting $1200 stimulus checks are the same ones advocating Universal Basic Income. The whole point of UBI is everyone gets the same amount, ending the pervasive [alleged] problems of "needs testing". Rather than declaring the exercise a resounding success where everyone got $$$ whether they needed it or not, and accepting the anomalies in good humor ("he paid a hundred million dollars in taxes, it's ok to give him a token $1200 back") they have to piss all over the process because it minutely benefitted "the rich". Really: 270 people total is (at scale) a meager $324,000. "The rich" are paying huge amounts in taxes. Elon Musk is taxed at 50%, and has personally paid $2.5B in taxes in one year alone. Stop biting hands that feed.

[Paperpusher]

They forgot to mention inmates and illegals.