Community
Briefs
Compiled by
Samoa News Staff
400 DEPENDENTS
WITH NO SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS DO NOT QUALIFY FOR TAX REBATES
The Tax Office
has identified about 400 dependents who do not have Social Security
Numbers (SSNs)and therefore would not qualify for a rebate under
the federal economic stimulus package, said Tax Office manager
Melvin Joseph.
(The 400 are
dependents filed under taxpayers' tax returns.)
In order to qualify,
the taxpayer and the dependent must have SSNs but Joseph said
that several dependents only have the "individual taxpayer
identification numbers" and this is not acceptable under
the federal economic package law.
"You must
have a social security number and this has been stressed to our
local taxpayers," said Joseph. "We have so far identified
400 dependents without a social security number but there could
be more."
He also urged
individuals who receive social security benefits or veterans
benefits that they also must file in order to get a rebate. He
said most of these monthly benefits are not taxable and therefore
are not filed.
"I cannot
stress enough the importance of filing the 2007 returns in order
for all of our residents that qualify under this federal law
to receive a rebate check," said Joseph.
The Tax Office
has already prepared a spreadsheet of local residents who have
filed and qualified to receive a rebate check, ready to be transmitted
to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Joseph said he
has a conference call Thursday morning with IRS to discuss the
rebates.
Samoa News has
learned that several local residents have returned to the Tax
Office to file an amendment to their tax returns. The changes
is to include certain children (dependent) under the age of 17
to reflect that these are their children. The change is to ensure
that the tax filer gets the amount received under the stimulus
package.
According to
sources, tax payers are claiming other people's children and
now they want to make sure they get the money coming from the
stimulus package.
28 ALIEN MARINE
SPECIES INHABIT PAGO PAGO HARBOR
An established
28 invasive marine species inhabit Pago Pago Harbor while several
inhabit Apia Harbor and a two-day workshop that opened yesterday
is discussing ways to combat these threats to the coral reefs
of the Samoan archipelago.
"It is an
issue throughout the Pacific," said Scott Godwin, workshop
facilitator from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology at the
University of Hawaii.
The Aloha State
has more than 350 established invasive marine species that include
seaweeds, crabs and fish that are already causing problems for
the coral reefs in the Hawaiian islands.
Godwin explained
that invasive or "alien" marine species are killing
off the coral reefs in Hawaii. Research conducted in 2003 that
studied the waters of Pago Harbor, Vatia, Fagatele Bay and other
locations, found 28 type of invasive species in Pago Harbor and
some in Fagatele Bay.
"We're presenting
the issue and ideas about future problems and how to manage them,"
said Godwin, who added it's important for both Samoas to take
an "archipelago approach" to ensure a connection in
managing the problems is maintained between Samoa and American
Samoa.
COMMON CAUSE
CALLS FOR PUBLIC HEARING ON STATUS OF THE RETIREMENT FUND
Common Cause
President Ben Te'o wrote earlier this month to the director of
the ASG Employees Retirement Fund (ASGERF) Fili Ta'afua calling
for a public hearing on the status of the ASGERF.
He said members
of the public contacted Common Cause for assistance in calling
for a hearing.
He said Common
Cause believes that the law the created the ASGERF should be
amended to reflect the interest of the members and allow for
its representatives (such as the retirees and employees) access
to all of the information about the ASGERF. He also said the
retirees and employees should be represented on the board.
Copies of Te'o's
letter was also sent to Senate and House retirement committee
chairmen.
Reach the
reporters at news.newsroom@samoatelco.com.
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