Eigen RadarEconomics
Archive
Analysis

US Treasury screening stops 175 million dollars in payments to deceased people

The US Treasury said new checks identified and returned about 13,500 federal payments destined for deceased individuals during fiscal 2026. Those payments totalled approximately 175 million dollars within a screened pool worth 3.7 trillion dollars. Access to identity and eligibility data also expanded sharply across federal programmes, alongside new checks on bank-account ownership and taxpayer identification.

Economics & Markets··Midday
An envelope held by a metal paperweight beside a closed ledger, with Treasury columns and a US flag beyond the window.

Treasury returns payments intended for deceased recipients

The US Treasury Department said new verification controls identified and returned approximately 13,500 payments intended for deceased people during fiscal 2026. Their combined value was about 175 million dollars. The result came from checks covering more than 1.1 billion federal payments worth approximately 3.7 trillion dollars, from the process’s launch through the fiscal year’s end. The department reported the returned payments and overall screening volume separately.[1], [2]

Treasury and its Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which handles federal disbursements, announced the results on October 6. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said access to payment-checking data had expanded. The department described the process as verifying critical information before money is sent, while protecting legitimate payments. Checks on bank-account ownership and the presence and format of taxpayer identification numbers were piloted during the year and became fully operational on September 30.[1], [2]

Federal programmes gain broader access to eligibility data

Do Not Pay supplies federal agencies and federally funded state programmes with data and tools for identity and eligibility checks. At the end of fiscal 2025, approximately 4 per cent of federal programmes could access all the data sources they were legally authorized to use. Treasury said that share reached approximately 99 per cent in fiscal 2026. Most remaining programmes are expected to complete onboarding early in fiscal 2027.[1]

Treasury attributed the expansion to simpler onboarding and interagency work on data sharing and privacy compliance. It said data were subject to privacy, security and user-access controls. This access measure covers programmes’ ability to use authorized data sources; it is separate from the value and number of payments returned after screening.[1]

Nine new datasets support a larger screening workload

The number of records screened through Do Not Pay exceeded 2.3 billion in fiscal 2026, compared with 641 million in fiscal 2025. Checks for states through the Public Assistance Reporting Information System contributed to the increase. Treasury added nine datasets, including OpenCorporates company registration information, selected verification using Social Security Numident data and grant-audit findings from the Federal Audit Clearinghouse. The new account and taxpayer-identity checks allow payments failing verification requirements to be identified and returned before disbursement.[1]

References

  1. News sourceU.S. Department of the TreasuryUS Treasury reports screening $3.7 trillion in payments↩1↩2↩3↩4↩5
  2. News sourcePYMNTSTreasury screening returns $175 million in payments intended for deceased people↩1↩2
Central banks and the rate cycle

More analysis from this desk

View all Brief analyses from the Economics & Markets desk →