Slavery Reparation Scam
Encyclopedia
The "Slave Reparations Act" (also called the Slavery Reparation Tax Credit, Black Tax Credit or Black Inheritance Tax Refund) is a tax fraud related to the concept of reparations for slavery
. The scam claims that filers can receive $5,000 or increased social security payouts for African-Americans born in the United States between 1911 and 1926.
It claims that African-Americans are entitled to a $5,000 slavery reparation tax credit. Below is a sample solicitation:
The goal of the scam is to get the victim to send all of their information to the scammer. By doing this, the scammer will gain the ability to commit identity theft on the victim.
This scam may have resulted from unpassed congressional legislation in 1999 to explore slave reparations. The bill, H.R. 40, would have created a commission to study the possibility of actual reparations to slave families.
Another payout quotes $43,209 as the estimated value of "40 acres and a mule
," supposedly laid out in an 1866 bill that was passed by Congress but was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson
. No such bill was entered into Congress in 1866. It is based on an actual order by Union
General William Tecumseh Sherman
, Special Field Order No. 15
, that set aside land from Charleston, South Carolina
to Jacksonville, Florida
for the exclusive use of freed slaves. Each family would receive 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) from this holding. Sherman may have acted on his own authority. No record exists of President Abraham Lincoln
or the War Department
authorizing this action.
In response to Sherman, the White House issued Howard's Circular 15 in September 1865 ordering restoration of land to pardoned owners and taking them back from freed slaves who had received them under Special Field Order No. 15.
The Southern Homestead Act of 1866
did make public land in some states available to freed slaves. Most of this land was swampy or distant from travel routes or was claimed by lumber companies.
In April 2002, the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) received more than 100,000 attempts to claim reparation tax credits and paid out more than $30 million in erroneous refunds. The IRS continued to report false tax credit scams and claims in 2003 and 2004.
Reparations for slavery
Reparations for slavery is a proposal that some type of compensation should be provided to the descendants of enslaved people in the United States, in consideration of the coerced and uncompensated labor their ancestors performed over several centuries...
. The scam claims that filers can receive $5,000 or increased social security payouts for African-Americans born in the United States between 1911 and 1926.
It claims that African-Americans are entitled to a $5,000 slavery reparation tax credit. Below is a sample solicitation:
|
The goal of the scam is to get the victim to send all of their information to the scammer. By doing this, the scammer will gain the ability to commit identity theft on the victim.
This scam may have resulted from unpassed congressional legislation in 1999 to explore slave reparations. The bill, H.R. 40, would have created a commission to study the possibility of actual reparations to slave families.
Another payout quotes $43,209 as the estimated value of "40 acres and a mule
40 acres and a mule
40 acres and a mule refers to the short-lived policy, during the last stages of the American Civil War in 1865, of providing arable land to black former slaves who had become free as a result of the advance of the Union armies into the territory previously controlled by the Confederacy,...
," supposedly laid out in an 1866 bill that was passed by Congress but was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
. No such bill was entered into Congress in 1866. It is based on an actual order by Union
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
General William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
, Special Field Order No. 15
Sherman's Special Field Orders, No. 15
Special Field Orders, No. 15 were military orders issued during the American Civil War, on January 16, 1865, by General William Tecumseh Sherman, commander of the Military Division of the Mississippi of the United States Army...
, that set aside land from Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
to Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
for the exclusive use of freed slaves. Each family would receive 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) from this holding. Sherman may have acted on his own authority. No record exists of President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
or the War Department
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
authorizing this action.
In response to Sherman, the White House issued Howard's Circular 15 in September 1865 ordering restoration of land to pardoned owners and taking them back from freed slaves who had received them under Special Field Order No. 15.
The Southern Homestead Act of 1866
Southern Homestead Act of 1866
The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 is a United States federal law enacted to break a cycle of debt during the Reconstruction following the American Civil War. Prior to this act, blacks and whites alike were having trouble buying land. Sharecropping and tenant farming had become ways of life. This...
did make public land in some states available to freed slaves. Most of this land was swampy or distant from travel routes or was claimed by lumber companies.
In April 2002, the Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
(IRS) received more than 100,000 attempts to claim reparation tax credits and paid out more than $30 million in erroneous refunds. The IRS continued to report false tax credit scams and claims in 2003 and 2004.