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Several anxious and angry seniors and others have recently expressed frustration over why they had not yet received the latest third round of stimulus funds, according to the Detroit Free Press, a publication of the USA TODAY Network.
“I thought it would be here now,” lamented an older woman on a Detroit Free Press voicemail message.
“Do you have any idea when people on SSI will get their stimulus money? Desperate to hear something, ”another woman sent me.
Another reader who receives government benefits through a Direct Express card complained that if the stimulus money was due on March 17, nothing happened. “All I hear is the IRS screwed up and it will be taken care of. It’s hard enough living on $ 800 a month.”
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Not getting something now doesn’t mean you’re out of luck.
More money will be issued in the coming weeks in the form of direct deposits and in the mail in the form of paper checks or debit cards.
It might not be that bad to wait a few weeks, if you’ve been a regular employee. But these delays are clearly hurting people who are already struggling to make ends meet.
The third set of Economic Impact Payments – which offer up to $ 1,400 each for those who qualify – began hitting many direct deposit bank accounts on March 17. Others have started receiving paper checks or plastic prepaid Visa cards, issued by MetaBank.
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So far, around 127 million people were on track to receive a total of $ 325 billion in the first two weeks since President Joe Biden signed the US bailout on March 11, according to the Internal Revenue. Service.
This includes the last 37 million payments from the second batch of Economic Impact Payments issued last week.
Millions still waiting for a stimulus check
But nearly 30 million Social Security and Supplementary Security Income recipients are waiting to receive money through their economic impact payments, according to a letter sent on Wednesday by leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee. .
“Because the SSA inexplicably failed to send the necessary payment files to the Internal Revenue Service, tens of millions of recipients have yet to receive their desperately needed IEPs,” according to President Richard Neal, Democrat of Massachusetts; and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Bill Pascrell Jr., Democrat of New Jersey and others.
Last Wednesday’s letter followed another scathing comment when Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee criticized both IRS commissioners and the Social Security administration over the management of the latest deployment of stimulus measures.
“Some of our most vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities, including veterans who have served our country with honor, are unable to pay for basic necessities while they are in arrears,” according to letter signed by Neal, Pascrell Jr ., and others.
The letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig and Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul expressed concern that most recipients of Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Roads Retirement Council iron and veterans who are not required to file an income tax return have yet to receive their payments.
And the letter expressed concern that “the IRS is unable to provide an expected schedule for these payments.”
Saul’s office issued a press release last Wednesday saying the Social Security administration has worked with the IRS over the past year to help all three stimulus programs. But the statement also noted that the agency faced various hurdles, budget cuts, and had not received any direct endowments to support its work on economic impact payments under the US bailout.
“In fact, it was the substantial efforts of the SSA that successfully overcame the fact that the IRS did not have a mechanism to automatically identify Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, some of the most affluent people. America’s financial insecurity, ”Saul said in a statement.
He noted that the Social Security administration sent initial test files to the IRS on March 22 and that the IRS confirmed the “test success” on March 24.
“The production files were delivered to the IRS by 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 25 – more than a week before we were able to provide a similar file to the IRS during the first round of EIPs,” said Saul in the press release.
He noted that the Social Security administration has updated the files that the IRS will use to issue payments to Social Security recipients.
“These updates to our files ensure that payments are made to the correct bank accounts and addresses, and that the deceased are removed from the files,” Saul said.
In short, Social Security employees have literally worked day and night with IRS staff to ensure that electronic files of Social Security and SSI beneficiaries are complete, accurate, and ready for use. issue payments. “
A year ago, during the first stimulus effort, many people who received government benefits faced similar delays. Many low-income families were desperate to know in early May 2020 where their first economic impact payments were.
What makes the waiting game worse now is that the latest stimulus package is much more generous than the last two and could really provide some serious relief.
The IRS has not given any planned timeline for when people who are beneficiaries of these government programs will receive their stimulus money.
“Many federal recipients who filed 2019 or 2020 returns or used the non-filers tool were included in these first two batches of payments, if they are eligible,” according to a press release from the IRS released Wednesday.
Others, however, continue to wait. The IRS has indicated that federal beneficiaries who did not file a 2019 or 2020 tax return, or who did not use the non-filers tool last year on IRS.gov, can still wait for the last stimulus payments.
The IRS said it was working with the Social Security Administration, the Railroad Pension Board and the Veterans Administration to get updated information for 2021 to send to these beneficiaries ” fast and automatic payments “.
“More information on when these payments will be made will be provided on IRS.gov as it becomes available,” the IRS said.
Answers posted in the FAQ at www.IRS.gov on Wednesday also remained vague when it came to questions about recipients of Social Security, Railroad pension and Veterans Affairs benefits.
What is happening with Direct Express?
Many people who receive federal benefits receive monthly payments on existing prepaid debit cards through Direct Express.
But the Direct Express site did not note until March 23: “According to the IRS, updates on the timing of economic impact payments for federal recipients are expected soon. This includes information for cardholders. Direct Express who did not file a tax return in 2019 or 2020. Updates will be posted on IRS.gov as soon as possible. “
The Direct Express program provides 4.5 million Americans – the majority of whom do not have a bank account – with a prepaid debit card to receive their monthly Social Security or veterans benefit payments. The IRS is expected to automatically place these stimulus payments on existing Direct Express cards.
The IRS is rolling out stimulus payments in batches – including direct deposit, as well as sending out paper checks and plastic prepaid debit cards.
Many people who received their money had already filed income tax returns because they were earning enough money to be required to file a return.
The second batch of payments includes around 17 million direct deposit payments, which were officially available on Wednesday, for a total of more than $ 38 billion.
Like the first batch of payments, the IRS said, the payments announced on Wednesday were primarily sent to eligible taxpayers who filed 2019 or 2020 returns. People who typically don’t file a return but have successfully used the tax return. The non-filers tool on IRS.gov last year also received payments in the second batch.
However, those who bring home better than average paychecks won’t get any money this time around.
For example, a married couple who file a joint return will not receive the third payment if their adjusted gross income exceeds $ 160,000.
The threshold is $ 120,000 for reporting as head of household and $ 80,000 for single tax filers and married people filing separate returns.
Why would a married couple receive two payments?
A wide range of questions remain regarding the complex program. And not everyone sees their payments appearing the way they might expect.
Some married couples, for example, wonder why they received two payment methods or just what appears to be half of their expected payment.
IRS officials noted that married taxpayers who file jointly – but whose tax return includes an injured spouse claim – can receive their third Economic Impact Payment as two separate payments.
“In most cases, the second payment will be made as stated in the tax return,” according to IRS officials.
“In a few cases, one payment can be made by direct deposit and the other by mail.”
An injured spouse claim is filed with the IRS to ensure that the full tax refund will not be used to offset your spouse’s previous debt, including federal income taxes past your spouse, but not by you.
“By filing Form 8379,” the IRS notes, “the injured spouse may be able to recover their share of the spouse reimbursement.”
What is confusing is that the second economic impact payment can take place the same week or in the weeks following the first payment.
“The two taxpayers on the tax return should check Get My Payment separately using their own Social Security number to see the status of the two payments,” according to the IRS. See www.IRS.gov for the Get My Payment tool.
Contact Susan tompor vhe [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @tompeur.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Third Stimulus Check: Many SSI Recipients Expect IRS Money
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