IRS sends letters to Americans still eligible for a stimulus payment: will it arrive in October?
The Democrats passed nearly $2 trillion worth of pandemic relief initiatives, but there are still millions of households who have not received their support.
The early months of the Biden presidency were marked by decisive and far-reaching action to provide financial relief for Americans suffering due to the pandemic.
The Democrats’ success in the Georgia Senate run-off elections gave them unified control in Washington and allowed Biden to pass a huge $1.9 trillion relief package, known as the American Rescue Plan. The package included a $1,400 stimulus check, extended the unemployment benefits boost and expanded the Child Tax Credit to provide support for the most vulnerable families.
Over 18 months after it was passed, the IRS has sent out a letter to those who may not yet have claimed their support, urging them to do so before their entitlement expires.
More than 9 million individuals and families have been contacted to inform them of key tax benefits that they may have been eligible for but have not yet received. In addition to the programs mentioned, this could include the Recovery Rebate Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
“The IRS wants to remind potentially eligible people, especially families, that they may qualify for these valuable tax credits,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig.
“We encourage people who haven’t filed a tax return yet for 2021 to review these options. Even if they aren’t required to file a tax return, they may still qualify for several important credits.
The letters were sent out from 13 October, but receiving one does not mean that your payment is on the way. Recipients will need to submit their information to the IRS first to trigger the payments.
How to claim a missing stimulus check and other relief payments
The various tax relief initiatives were administrated by the IRS, the federal tax agency. As such the automatic support payments were based on the personal and financial information that the agency had on file from recent tax returns.
However this meant that low-income households (those not required to file taxes) had to submit their details separately, using the IRS’ Free File tool.
The IRS has confirmed that the Free File tool will only remained open until 17 November 2022, meaning that anyone yet to receive their payment has less than a month to file a tax return and trigger the payment.
Anyone with an income of less than $73,000 is able to utilise the Free File resource to submit their tax information and find out whether they are eligible for additional support. Full details of what you may be entitled to will have been outlined in the letter from the IRS.
The quickest and easiest way to get your outstanding entitlement is to submit your tax return electronically and to opt for a direct deposit payment of rebates and credits.