居住在海外的外国工人误收了1200美元的美国经济刺激计划支票

居住在海外的外国工人误收了1200美元的美国经济刺激计划支票

Stimulus checks are prepared on May 8, 2008, in Philadelphia. In 2020, stimulus checks again went to many Americans, this time during the pandemic's economic fallout. Some of that money went to thousands of foreign workers not eligible to receive the funds.

经济刺激计划于2008年5月8日在费城进行。在2020年，许多美国人再次收到经济刺激支票，这一次是在流行病的经济影响下进行的。其中的一部分资金流向了数千名没有资格领取资金的外国工人。

Thousands of foreign workers who entered the U.S. on temporary work visas received $1,200 checks in error during the first round of stimulus payments, and many of them are spending the money in their home nations. One tax preparation firm told NPR that it has clients from 129 countries who mistakenly received stimulus checks.

成千上万持临时工作签证进入美国的外国工人在第一轮经济刺激支出中错误地收到了1200美元支票，他们中的许多人现在正在自己的祖国消费。一家税务准备公司告诉NPR，它的客户来自129个国家，他们误收了经济刺激支票。

Government officials and tax experts say the mistake happened because many foreign workers, whether unintentionally or on purpose, file incorrect tax returns that make them appear to be U.S. residents. Some of them are now trying to amend their returns because they worry that having mistakenly received a stimulus check will jeopardize their visa status, green card application or ability to return to the U.S.

政府官员和税务专家说，之所以出现这种错误，是因为许多外国工人，不管是无意的还是有意的，都提交了错误的纳税申报单，使他们看起来像是美国居民。他们中的一些人现在正试图修改他们的申报表，因为他们担心误收的经济刺激支票将危及他们的签证身份、绿卡申请或返回美国的能力。

How much stimulus money was mistakenly sent to foreign workers living overseas is difficult to quantify. But Sprintax, which does U.S. tax preparation for nonresidents, did about 400 amended returns last year for people who mistakenly filed as U.S. residents, and so far this year it has done 5,000 — almost 5% of the total federal tax returns it filed last year, according to the company. If just 5% of last year's more than 700,000 student and seasonal workers with F-1 and J-1 visas received a stimulus check in error, that would total $43 million.

很难量化有多少刺激资金被错误地送到了生活在海外的外国工人手中。但为非美国居民做美国纳税准备的Sprintax公司称，该公司去年为错误申报为美国居民的人修改了约400份纳税申报单，今年到目前为止已经修改了5000份，几乎是去年提交的联邦纳税申报单总额的5%。去年，70多万持有F-1和J-1签证的学生和季节性工人中，只要有5%的人错误地收到了经济刺激支票，那总计就会有4300万美元。

The "economic impact payments" sent erroneously to non-U.S. citizens are the latest in a series of mishaps involving coronavirus relief efforts, including nearly $1.4 billion in stimulus checks sent to dead Americans. As Congress debates another pandemic relief package, it's considering a second round of payments that would exclude the deceased, but its new bill does not address the problem of $1,200 checks having mistakenly gone to foreign workers in other countries.

“经济影响支票”被错误地送到了非美国居民手中。这是冠状病毒救援工作中发生的最新一起不幸事件，包括近14亿美元的经济刺激支票被寄给了死去的美国人。国会正在讨论另一套流行病救助方案，正在考虑将死者排除在外的第二轮款项，但新法案并没有解决1200美元支票被错误地发给在其他国家工作的外国工人的问题。

Many of those workers are college students, often from Eastern Europe and South and Central America, who travel to the United States for temporary and seasonal low-wage jobs such as waiters, lifeguards and hotel housekeepers at ski resorts, amusement parks and beach destinations. In a typical year, the U.S. issues work visas to several hundred thousand foreign students.

这些工人中有很多是大学生，他们通常来自东欧、南美和中美洲，他们来美国做一些临时和季节性的低工资工作，比如在滑雪胜地、游乐园和海滩景点的服务员、救生员和酒店服务员。在典型的年份里，美国向数十万外国学生发放工作签证。

The U.S. government acknowledges that some stimulus checks were improperly sent to foreign workers and told NPR that the Treasury Department is "exploring possible options" to prevent that from happening again.

美国政府承认，一些经济刺激支票被不错误地发给了外国工人，并对美国国家公共广播电台表示，财政部正在“探索可能的选择”，以防止这种情况再次发生。