# Government Targets Taxpayers for Parent's Decade Old Debts **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 15, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/government-targets-taxpayers-for-parents-decade-old-debts/686181 "2014-04-15T15:19:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/government-targets-taxpayers-for-parents-decade-old-debts/686181/1 "2014-04-15T15:19:21Z")
Federal government seized the tax refund of Mary Grice four weeks ago. What happened was that in 1960 when she was 4 years old her father died and her mother got Social Security survivors benefits. In 1977 there was apparently an overpayment. So naturally now the government came after her now for the overpayment (there was a change in the law 3 years ago allowing collection of older debts). > **[They were children when Social Security overpaid their parents. Now the...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/social-security-treasury-target-hundreds-of-thousands-of-taxpayers-for-parents-old-debts/2014/04/10/74ac8eae-bf4d-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_story.html)** > > Hundreds of thousands of taxpayers are dunned for debts — often owed by deceased parents — they never knew about. What craziness! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/government-targets-taxpayers-for-parents-decade-old-debts/686181/2 "2014-04-15T15:23:39Z")
Did you notice a link on the same page to [another article](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/social-security-stops-trying-to-collect-on-old-taxpayer-debts/2014/04/14/9355c58e-c40f-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_story.html), in which the acting Social Security commissioner said “I have directed an immediate halt to further referrals under the Treasury Offset Program to recover debts owed to the agency that are 10 years old and older pending a thorough review of our responsibility and discretion under the current law." ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/government-targets-taxpayers-for-parents-decade-old-debts/686181/3 "2014-04-15T15:34:58Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Did you notice a link on the same page to [another article](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/social-security-stops-trying-to-collect-on-old-taxpayer-debts/2014/04/14/9355c58e-c40f-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_story.html), in which the acting Social Security commissioner said “I have directed an immediate halt to further referrals under the Treasury Offset Program to recover debts owed to the agency that are 10 years old and older pending a thorough review of our responsibility and discretion under the current law." Will death be avoidable next? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/government-targets-taxpayers-for-parents-decade-old-debts/686181/4 "2014-04-15T15:56:51Z")
By far the most disturbing part of the article is not that they’re trying to collect decades-old debts from children of deceased taxpayers, but that lack of records and their own uncertainty don’t seem to slow down the money grab: > [@](#): > > Now, Social Security claims it overpaid someone in the Grice family — it’s not sure who — in 1977. > [@](#): > > The government doesn’t look into exactly who got the overpayment… > [@](#): > > The feds insisted that he owed $172 but could provide no documents to back up the claim. Multiple cases where the agency isn’t sure what happened and can’t prove it, but by God, wants some money. If possible, it gets worse: > [@](#): > > The Treasury initially held the full amount of Grice’s federal and state refunds, a total of $4,462. Last week, after The Washington Post inquired about Grice’s case, the government returned the portion of her refund above the $2,996 owed on her father’s account. If I’m reading that right, they seized more than they were owed and only returned the excess to which they were clearly not entitled under the pressure of public scrutiny. That would be infuriating.