At least 18 billionaires got federal stimulus checks, report says
CBSN
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.
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