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Payroll Tax Fraud and Its Potential for Impact on Your Benefits - click2houston.com; AMAC Foundation
When we think about scammers and fraudsters, we generally think about the direct contact between dishonest connivers and individual citizens. You know, the phone calls from crooks impersonating Social Security or IRS staffers, the AI-enabled voice-cloned phone call for help from a relative, even the classic “Nigerian Prince” advance-fee fraud. These are the stuff of folklore in some cases; in others, they are real-life examples of common swindles we read about frequently. Beyond these everyday rip-offs, though, there is another type of fraud that can have a direct effect on your future, and it’s something you might not be aware of until it’s too late to do anything about it.
Enter the payroll tax fraud–the situation where a dishonest employer withholds FICA tax from employees’ paychecks but pockets the money. Since the payroll tax is a specific component in the equation that ultimately determines Social Security benefits, this type of fraud causes a direct–but deferred–impact on what will eventually be affected employees’ Social Security benefits. A post by click2houston.com’s Ninfa Saavedra and Bill Spencer offers background on the impact of this type of fraud. Check it out here…
By the way, the information discussed above is an example of why it’s so important to routinely check the accuracy of the earnings records maintained by the Social Security Administration, and the simplest way to do that is through your my Social Security Account. If you haven’t yet established one of these, this video can help you: https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/. If, after viewing the video, you have any questions about setting up the account or using it, know that the AMAC Foundation offers a free-to-the-public Social Security Advisory Service that can help you. Click here to learn about this service and how to access it.