Japanese pensioners and U.S. stimulus check falls on Bank of Tokyo

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After the U.S. Internal Revenue Service sent thousands of payments to Japanese citizens, pensioners tried to cash stimulative checks from Joe Biden, leaving Tokyo’s bank branches in trouble.

An official from one of Japan’s largest banks said that the problem caused “crowding and confusion” in branches in some areas of Tokyo as employees tried to process unfamiliar foreign currency checks.

The money appears to have been sent to Japanese retirees working in the United States, which highlights Biden’s sheer scale $1.9tn stimulation And the waste risk of rushing to take money away from the door.

In the last round of the stimulus plan, payments to unqualified foreign recipients (including many countries outside of Japan) were a problem Donald Trump (Donald Trump) adopted.

However, the recent Japanese payee did not receive a check in 2020, which indicates that the problem of incorrect payments may be even greater this time.

“I feel grateful. I think America is great.” said a 75-year-old retiree from a Japanese trading house who worked in the United States in the 1970s.He received $1,400 stimulus check This month.

The next week is to spend time exchanging text messages and phone calls with friends who have also received checks. Two of his friends were able to cash the check at Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, while the other friend cashed the check at the Mizuho branch in Chuo, Tokyo.

However, when he checked with the local Mizuho Bank branch, he was told that he needed to confirm his qualifications before he could receive the cash, which made him consider opening a bank account with SMFG.

Within a few days, he saw media reports suggesting that he might not be eligible for the check received by both he and his wife. He said: “This is just a short dream and ends.” “Now, my biggest interest is what will happen to those who have received cash.”

Two of Japan’s three major banks are continuing to cash the eligibility for cashing of customers’ checks using existing accounts. Banks asked not to be named because they feared that their branches would increase demand.

The Chicago CDH accountant, Koh Fujimoto, an accountant who specializes in consulting Japanese people with cross-border tax issues, said that only U.S. citizens (taxed on their global income) and foreigners living in the U.S. are eligible to receive checks. . “one left Income qualification,” he added.

Before signing the Social Security Treaty in 2005, many Japanese received a small amount of pension from the United States after paying taxes in their work distribution. Fujimoto said that the IRS may not be able to distinguish them from American pensioners whose income is too low to submit income. Tax refund.

Fujimoto said that if a large sum of money is lost, the United States may take action, but he added that once foreign seniors cash the check, it will be difficult for them to pay. He said that despite this, “people who are not eligible should return the money.”

The IRS confirms that “non-resident aliens” are Can not be ignored And mail the check back to your address in Austin, Texas.

according to Treasury The department’s inspector general, Trump’s first $1,200 stimulus payment in the spring of 2020 included 27,808 checks worth $34 million to foreign addresses, including qualified and unqualified recipients.

The U.S. Treasury Department did not provide this year’s payment figures, otherwise it declined to comment.

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