In an unusual moment of sanity, the federal government announced on Friday that it would stop seizing the tax refunds of taxpayers whose parents owed money to Social Security from years ago. This has been governmental policy since late 2008. In typical bureaucratic efficiency, the IRS would send letters to addresses that had not been used in 40 years or would inexplicably be unable to contact someone who had lived at the same address for 40 years. In its defense, the IRS does not pass these inane laws, it merely enforces what Congress has passed.
Three quick points:
1. Typically debts die with a person and the heirs of an individual are not liable for his debts. This is an exception.
2. If you want to point fingers for this law punishing innocent taxpayers for the alleged sins of their parents, point to Todd Platts, a former Republican Congressman; a Democratic House and Senate in 2008; and a legislative process that allows crap like this to get inserted into a Farm Bill.
3. It is nice of the WaPo to take a breath from its anti-Trump obsession and to focus on the injustice caused by this process.
Photo Credit: Evelyn Hockstein for the Washington Post
License: Fair Use/Education
