IRS officials have announced that the agency will provide the latest round of stimulus checks as reaching eligible Americans in “record time.” However, some social security beneficiaries who urgently need financial assistance say they are still waiting for emergency aid to be paid.
“I have to postpone everything – utility bills, cable. I had to be late for rent,” Mark Stevens, 65, of Pensacola, Florida, told CBS MoneyWatch.
Stevens noted when the IRS said on March 12 that a payment date for Social Security beneficiaries would be announced “soon” and expected its incentive money to arrive quickly, given that the second exemption payment approved by lawmakers in late December arrived within two days of the law’s authorization. No such luck.
“For me, ‘in a short time’ it’s two or three days, not two weeks,” Stevens said, noting that he only has $ 600 in his bank account. “People in my situation feel lied to.”
The IRS did not specify when Social Security recipients and other federal aid recipients could receive incentive checks, which amount to $ 1,400 for each eligible and dependent adult. But because many receive federal payments by direct deposit into their bank account, they are puzzled as to why it takes the tax agency longer to deliver their checks than others. So far, the IRS has deposited more than $ 90 million in people’s accounts or sent prepaid checks and debit cards.
MPs “alarmed” by the delay
The delay in providing incentive payments to social security beneficiaries and others on government assistance has caught the attention of parliamentarians. On Monday, House Ways & Means Committee members wrote to IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig and Social Security Administration Commissioner Andrew M. Saul to express their concern and request an update. delivery of checks to these groups by Friday.
“We were alarmed to find out recently that the majority [Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Railroad Retirement Board and Veterans] beneficiaries who are not required to file a tax return have not yet received their payments and that the IRS is unable to provide an expected timetable for these payments, ”lawmakers wrote in the letter.
They added: “Some of the most vulnerable elderly and people with disabilities, including veterans who have served our country with honor, cannot pay for basic necessities while waiting for outstanding payments.”
The IRS said Monday it will deliver another batch of checks on March 24, although many of them will be paper checks or prepaid debit cards that will be mailed to recipients. Some social security beneficiaries may be part of that round or subsequent payment rounds. The IRS did not respond to requests for comment on delays for some beneficiaries of social security and other programs.
The IRS has given priority to delivering checks to people who have filed either tax returns for 2020 or 2019, as well as those who have used the “Non-Filers” website that the agency operated last year.
Problems getting answers
Part of the frustration felt by Stevens and others is the difficulty in reporting receiving information from the “Get My Payment” IRS website. Stevens, who said he did not use the Non-Filers website last year, said he received a “Payment Status Not Available” message.
That can mean a few things. It may indicate that the tax agency either did not process a person’s payment or that people are not eligible for an incentive payment, the IRS said.
Among those facing problems is Sydney Chandler of Los Angeles, who helped her disabled cousin follow up on the stimulus check. So far, she said she did not receive it and that she receives the same “Unavailable Payment Status” response from the IRS website.
“What angered me and a lot of people there was that the IRS already had the direct filing information,” Chandler said. “You cannot get a response from the IRS or the Social Security Administration.”