Social Security Table » Acts

Reducing Taxes On Social Security – Advantages And Disadvantages Of This Debatable Issue

admin — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:06:31 +0000

Abhishek Agarwal asked:

The Social Security Act of 1935 is among the primary acts the United States government is imposing. The acts main function is to give a lifetime reward to workers who have retired by the age of 65. That was the time of the Midst of Depression and where programs regarding social security were then based on. Due to the expansion of these programs, the programs are considered to be a leading federal program. The funds for these programs demand almost a quarter of the funds in the federal.

For in a long time now, the payments given by the social security programs were free of tax. This was the setup since for the most part of the grantees life, the grantees were paying for their social security record.

In this case, change has always been a part of our life. Just like for programs in Social Secuirty, it has changed over the years and are still subject to change. Presently, a part of the payments given by the programs is taxable. There was one period where the benefits were almost taxed by 50% and other brackets even reached 85% taxable rate. Various measures were tried and employed in reducing the tax rates of the payments, however majority of them were futile. Due to the changes, it won’t be a surprise if there would come a year where people would pay the benefits of their social security at a very high rate. This could be partly attributed to increasing population. One important setback that is situation reflects is that because of the increasing population, some time in the future many people would become dependent on the social security programs especially the benefits when the time for their retirements comes. The setback could probably be best solved if the tax rates could be lessened by the government. In this way, there’s a higher probability that people would gain more income.

Another possible solution that could be taken as of the moment is to increase the rates of the taxes imposed on present employees. This way could somehow ensure that while there is an increasing population, the entire system would not necessarily fall apart. Presently, employees pay taxes after earning $ 90,000 firstly. The employees are still taxed similarly, since in this way the government is able to increase the cap rather than having the employees pay a higher percentage. In this way, the burden in placed on the higher bracket employees rather than those middle class ones.

One concern arising presently is that the social security and its benefits are now put at risk. There are retirees now enjoying benefits that people in the future would not be able to perhaps enjoy. Currently, it is determined that employees now would be getting 25% less of the benefits that retirees are enjoying presently. However retired grantees are also on the lookout to make sure that even with the booming population, taxes would be reduced so that we could avoid having people living underneath the poverty line.

Those who are currently working and paying for their benefits could be assured that in the long run they would be able to enjoy the benefits they are saving for now with additional savings for that matter. The present situation demands that the government find ways to reduce the taxes so as to avoid the conflict that the benefits enjoyed by the retirees presently would not be the same as to the retirees in the future. The changes could happen given that bad case social security programs are now encountering, it would perhaps be possible for the government to eventually lessen the taxes on these benefits and programs.

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Fraud in Social Security

admin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:07:39 +0000

Maribel Roncales asked:

Social Security Fraud refers to the act of dishonestly claiming of benefits. Due to the increasing number of fraudulent claims, the US government enacted a law that will protect individuals from these illicit conducts.

What constitutes Fraud under the Social Security Act?

The Social Security Act provides an outline for actions that are considered fraudulent. Some of those acts are the following:

• Knowingly and willfully makes or causes to be made any false statement or representation of material facts in the application for benefits under this title;

• Knowingly and willfully makes or causes to be made any false statement or representation of a material fact for use in determining any rights to the benefits;

• Having knowledge of any event affecting

o His or her right to the benefit

o The initial or continued right to the benefit of other individual in whose behalf he or she has applied for or is receiving benefit

o Having made an application to receive any of such benefits for the use and benefit of other and having receive it, knowingly and willfully converts the benefits for the use other than for what is intended

Information needed in filing Social Security Fraud

When planning to file a Fraud complaint, you need the following data:

• Name

• Address

• Social security number of the person you are reporting.

• Description of potential fraud incident

In cases where the Social Security number is not known, you need to secure his or her date of birth, age and the name of the parents. However, if you are reporting a concealed activity you need the name of the employer and its address and phone number.

How to report Social Security Fraud incident

The Social Security Administration takes seriously any report regarding Social Security Fraud. The Office of the Inspector General is the one who investigates incidents of Social Security Fraud. If you have any knowledge regarding these incidents, you can report it immediately by:

• Calling the Social Security Office hotline number

• Use the on line fraud reporting form

• Write to Social Security Office.

Yet, if you have been the actual victim of a fraudulent act, seeking legal assistance from a competent Social Security Fraud attorney is advisable. An attorney with sufficient in handing these cases can help you prosecute the law violators.

What is the Office of the Inspector General?

The Office of the Inspector General is the one directly responsible for meeting the statutory mission promoting economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the administration of Social Security programs. It is also responsible for preventing and detecting fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement in such programs and operations.

OIG also searches and reports systematic weaknesses in SSA programs and operations and make recommendations for improvements and corrective actions.

Penalties for the violation of the Act

Any person found guilty for Social Security Fraud shall be:

• Fined under the United States Code

• Imprisoned for not more than five years or both

The federal court in sentencing the defendant may in addition to any other penalty order restitution.

When can there be restitution?

The court orders restitution in any of the following instances:

• The Commissioner of Social Security order payment that should not have been made

• An individual suffers financial loss due to defendant’s violation of this Act.

Our Los Angeles attorneys are proven experts in handling Social Security Fraud cases. For free evaluation of your case, log on to our website and contact our legal staff.

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