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Earlier this week, the IRS released IR-2020-61, which includes a statement that “some seniors and others who typically do not file returns will need to submit a simple tax return to receive the stimulus payment.” Knowing that this directly conflicts with wording in the CARES Act, NATP contacted IRS Commissioner Rettig and key members of the House Ways and Means Committee to request clarification.
As of last night, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS announced that Social Security beneficiaries who are not typically required to file tax returns will not need to file an abbreviated tax return to receive the economic impact payment. Instead, payments will be automatically deposited into their bank accounts. The IRS will use information from the Form SSA-1099 and Form RRB-1099, and recipients will receive these payments as a direct deposit or by paper check, just as they would normally receive their benefits.
Please note, since the IRS would not have information regarding any dependents for these people unless they filed a tax return, each person would receive $1,200 per person, without the additional amount for any dependents.
First stimulus payments expected to go out week of April 13
According to our sources on the Hill, the Treasury Department and IRS officials have told the House Ways and Means Committee that the initial wave of payments will go out the week of April 13. The payments will automatically deposited into the same bank account reflected on the 2019 or 2018 return filed. In the coming weeks, the Treasury plans to develop a web-based portal that will allow individuals who have not recently submitted banking information to the IRS to do so, enabling them to receive payments immediately as opposed to waiting for a check to arrive in the mail.
Taxpayers in the first wave have direct deposit information on file with the IRS from their 2018 or 2019 tax returns. Paper checks would start going out in May to people who don’t have direct deposit information on file with the IRS. About 5 million checks will be sent weekly, and it could take up to 20 weeks to distribute all of them. People with the lowest incomes will get their checks first.
We’ve heard that the IRS anticipates creating a “Where’s my Economic Impact Payment?” tracker, similar to the “Where’s my refund?” system.
