According to the website Motley Fool Social Security recipients pay taxes on 42% of the $526.5 billion in benefits that are paid out every year. That comes out to $223 .6 billion dollars that is subject to tax. That doesn't mean that there is a 42% tax on Social Security but rather that 42% of all benefits are taxable just like other income.
Jasminka Ramick was indicted last Friday in federal court in Chicago for allegedly funneling her Social Security benefits to the terror group ISIS. Ramick allegedly sent a total of $700 to a person in St. Louis who then passed the money to somebody in Turkey, who then pass the money to ISIS. Remick and her husband were apparently also filing for bankruptcy protection at the time of the alleged ISIS donation was made.
Segment 1:Republican Congressman are asking the Social Security Administration to notify the IRS of suspicious activity regarding the earned income tax credit. A recent Inspector General report revealed that lax oversight by the Social Security Administration may be contributing to an increase in fraud when it comes to the tax credit. The report found that 50,000 people claimed the tax credit but then later disallowed it, which indicates that it could be fraudulent.
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The federal budget deficit will start to rise again in 2017 according to the Congressional Budget Office. In large part that will be because of increased Social Security and Medicare spending. By 2017 Social Security spending will represent about 4.9% of GDP, increasing to 5.7% by 2025, with government health insurance to increase to 6.2% of GDP during the same period. Social Security, the major health care programs and the government’s interest payments on its rising debt would account for almost 85% of the total increase in spending by 2025, CBO said, reports MarketWatch.
Segment 2:
A federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned 39 separate indictments charging one doctor, Luis Escabi-Pérez, and 39 other individuals for fraud in the application process for Social Security Administration (SSA) disability insurance benefits in Puerto Rico, announced U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez Vélez for the District of Puerto Rico, says the FBI. Escabi-Pérez, a psychiatrist, submitted psychiatric medical reports to the SSA in support of applications for disability insurance benefits submitted by his patients. In addition, the defendant typically charged a fee in the amount of $500 for the preparation and submittal of a psychiatric medical report to the SSA. He would at times also charge additional fees of up to $5,000 to backdate medical records in order to create the appearance of a longer history of medical treatment.
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