&Quot;Internal Revenue Service&Quot;

Did a $100 million lawsuit filed by Gavin Newsom against Nick Shirley, Willie Nelson and a dozen other celebrities collapse after whistleblower testimony? No, that's not true: The story that California's governor filed a defamation lawsuit against a long list of people who "publicly criticized state-level financial handling" was made up by a network of foreign-run Facebook pages and websites.…

Did President Joe Biden announce "emergency" $6,400 stimulus checks in November 2024? No, that's not true: An online search found no such announcement from Biden, the U.S. Department of the Treasury or the Internal Revenue Service. Those two government agencies administered three earlier stimulus programs. The claim appeared in a video post on Facebook (archived here) on November, 20, 2024,…

Was it reported in November 2024 that every American was eligible for a $1,000 stimulus check to help combat skyrocketing credit card debt? No, that's not true: The government made no such announcement. An AI detector found substantial evidence that the voice track of a video saying so on social media is the product of artificial intelligence. The claim appeared…

Is President-elect Donald Trump planning to abolish a tax credit for parents of "trans-species" children, or kids who identify as animals? No, that's not true: This originated on a social media account that clearly labels itself as "satire." No such tax credit is listed on the Internal Revenue Service's website. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok…

Do undocumented immigrants in the United States not pay taxes? No, that's not true: The claim made by Elon Musk on X that "illegals in America" do not pay taxes is "absolutely false," the deputy director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think tank, told Lead Stories. "Undocumented immigrants pay a range of taxes at every…

Could a call to a hotline number expedite receiving a "stimulus deposit" in November 2023? No, that's not true: The federal government was not distributing such payments as of this writing. The toll-free number shared on social media was a sex hotline, not a contact of a federal agency. The claim reappeared in a post on Facebook on November 29,…

Will 10 states be issuing a fourth round of IRS stimulus checks on November 30, 2023? No, that's not true: There is no 2023 federal tax benefit stimulus program from the IRS nor are all the states listed in a social media post issuing their own stimulus checks. Virginia will be issuing rebate checks to eligible taxpayers before November 30,…

Does a section of the U.S. Code, cited in a video on social media, exempt American workers from paying taxes? No, that's not true: No section of the U.S. Code universally exempts American workers from paying taxes. The section of the U.S. Code highlighted in the video pertains to the taxation of federal reserve banks, not individuals. The claim appeared…

Did U.S. Marines arrest former IRS director Charles Rettig? No, that's not true: The U.S. military does not have the authority to arrest civilians because of the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act. Lead Stories could not find any legitimate news reports on such an arrest, and this claim comes from a satirical site that has a history of writing fictional stories…

Would the Internal Revenue Service receive over 66 percent of a $1.28 billion lottery prize if someone wins it? No, that's not true: The claim significantly overestimated federal tax payments because it did not consider that the lump sum payment is almost always less than the advertised value since it's determined by how much cash the entity selling lottery tickets…