Variety was told that a supermarket that received $6,000 in U.S. stimulus checks from different taxpayers could not cash them in a bank due to “insufficient funds.”
But Finance Secretary Eloy Inos said that’s “impossible” because more than a third of the funds provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury are still in the bank.
“No way they bounced,” said Inos.
He said the checks may not have been cleared due to other reasons but not because of “insufficient funds.”
“There is what we call unusual endorsement like if a signature is missing. Sometimes the machine missed it (on the check) or the dates and the written amount and the figure are not the same,” he told Variety in an interview yesterday. “Or maybe the checks are (physically damaged). There are many other factors.”
The U.S. Department of Treasury turned over $16.1 million to the CNMI Department of Finance under the $152 billion federal Economic Stimulus Package Act of 2008.
Of this figure, Inos said $6 million is still in the Bank of Guam and the U.S. Treasury will provide more funds if what was given to the CNMI is not enough.
Most of the CNMI recipients got $300.
According to Inos, $300 is the minimum federal stimulus rebate and since most taxpayers in the CNMI private sector are minimum wage earners who are paid lower than their counterparts in the U.S., most of them got the minimum rebate amount
“If their tax liability is lower than $300, then they get $300. The minimum rebate is $300,” said Inos.
In the U.S., individual taxpayers got $600 each, $1,200 for joint filers and an additional $300 per eligible child.
Inos said there is no truth to the rumor that those who got $300 in rebates will get the same amount anytime soon.
He said those who received additional $300 rebate checks either have amended their tax returns or have dependents.
“We have no intention of shortchanging anybody — we don’t discriminate. It’s about the tax system,” he said.
“In a way this is a good exercise for us. These problems have never come up before. We’re just following the requirements of the (U.S. Internal Revenue System) so that next time around, we can implement this easily and smoothly,” he added.
