Social Security recipients given tight timeline to get stimulus cash for dependents
Social Security recipients with dependents could be left in the lurch if they don’t get their information to the Internal Revenue Service — and soon.
According to the Social Security Administration, anyone receiving benefits who didn’t file taxes in 2018 or 2019 but has qualifying children under the age of 17 “should not wait for their automatic $1,200 individual payment.”
Instead, they should fill out their information under the “Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here” section on the IRS’s website.
“I urge Social Security and (Supplemental Security Income) recipients with qualifying children who do not normally file taxes to take action now,” Andrew Saul, commissioner of the SSA, said in a news release Monday.
The deadline for Social Security recipients is Wednesday, April 22, according to the release. But those on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will “need to take this action by later this month,” officials say.
“A specific date (for those on SSI) will be available soon,” according to the Social Security Administration.
Under the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, federal officials promised early on that both Social Security recipients and SSI beneficiaries were eligible for economic impact payments totaling $1,200 per person or $2,400 per couple.
Though the initial instructions were muddled, the IRS eventually landed on making those payments automatic — meaning people who receive Social Security payments did not need to file any type of tax return, “simple” or otherwise, McClatchy News reported.
Then the first wave of checks went out, and some realized the extra $500 payment for their dependents was missing.
“If beneficiaries in this group do not provide their information to the IRS soon, their payment at this time will be $1,200,” the SSA said. “People would then be required to file a tax year 2020 tax return to obtain the additional $500 per eligible child.”
According to the instructions provided on the SSA website, Social Security recipients with Direct Express debit cards can leave the bank account information section on the IRS’s online form blank — but they must fill out all other mandatory questions.
People who started receiving Social Security or SSI benefits after Jan. 1 who didn’t file tax returns in 2018 or 2019 must also fill out their information online under the “Non-Filers” section, the SSA said.
Without it, “they will not receive automatic payments from Treasury,” according to the news release.
