The IRS and SSA have shared certain information from their databases in the past.  That's how the SSA knows when an individual's adjusted gross income increases, allowing the SSA to change the Medicare premium.  That access and information sharing, apparently, was more limited than many of us thought.  A recent article highlights fraud and mistakes that the IRS has been able to uncover by virtue of the enhanced data sharing that has been allowed by Congress.  The following is from Thomson Reuters:

 Treasury Blocks, Recovers Over $31 Million in Social Security Payments to Dead People

By Federal Tax Update Staff 

The Treasury Department announced thwarting and recovering over $31 million in fraud and improper payments during a five-month pilot after gaining temporary access to a high-quality dataset of deceased individuals.

Fiscal Assistant Secretary David Lebryk said this is "just the tip of the iceberg," as the Treasury projects more than $215 million in net benefit during its three-year access to the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Full Death Master File.

The SSA maintains the most complete federal database of individuals who are reported to have died.

Effective December 2023 through December 2026, Congress granted Treasury temporary access to the SSA's Full Death Master File, which contains over 142 million records dating back to 1899.

The Treasury said the integration of the master file resulted in a 139% increase in the total number of death matches and improved timeliness and quality of data.

The pilot also reportedly led to a notable growth in both new and expanded partnerships and increased usage of the "Do Not Pay" Working System.

"Congress granting permanent access to the Full Death Master File will significantly reduce fraud, improve program integrity, and better safeguard taxpayer dollars," said Lebryk.