URGENT UPDATE: Act Quickly to Get a Stimulus Payment in 2020!
New Deadline for Social Security, SSI, and Veterans Benefits Recipients with Children!
Starting now, SSI and Social Security recipients who haven’t yet gotten their $500 stimulus payments per dependent child have a new chance to get the payments. They will need to fill out the non-filer tax form by November 21, 2020. They will likely get the payments in October 2020.
Download an easy to understand handout here.
Here’s what you need to know:
SSI and Social Security recipients should have received their $1,200 individual stimulus payments automatically. Now, they have until November 21, 2020 to fill out the IRS non-filer tax form, to get $500 stimulus payments for their dependent children.
Other people who don’t usually file taxes can fill out the form through October 15, 2020, to get payments of $1,200 for adults and $500 for dependent children.
Filling out the non-filer tax form can be tricky, but help is available. Download a guide from the City of Philadelphia here for help on filling out the form.
If you live in Pennsylvania, the Campaign for Working Families is providing virtual and in-person assistance. You can sign up here for help.
People who get stuck can call the IRS’s hotline at (800) 919-9835, or contact their local Low Income Taxpayer Clinic. In Philadelphia, you can get help from Philadelphia Legal Assistance at (215) 981-3800 or Villanova Federal Tax Law Clinic at (610) 519-5894.
Families with even a little earned income may be eligible for a tax refund. If they fill out the non-filer tax form, it may be harder to get a tax refund later. So families with any earned income in 2019 should ask for advice from a Low Income Taxpayer Clinic.
Here’s the back story:
In Spring 2020, the IRS agreed to make $1,200 stimulus payments automatically to SSI and Social Security recipients, but recipients had to fill out the non-filer tax form to get the $500 payments for their children. The deadlines to fill out the tax form were very short — just 40 hours for some people. A lot of recipients couldn’t fill out the tax form in time.
Until recently, the IRS said that people had to wait until next year, and file taxes, to get the dependent payments. On July 23, 2020, Community Legal Services (CLS), the Villanova Federal Tax Law Clinic, and Berger Montague teamed up to sue the IRS over its unreasonably short deadlines. On August 14, 2020 — right before a preliminary injunction hearing was scheduled to be held — the IRS agreed to give SSI and Social Security recipients more time to get payments.
You can read more about about the IRS reversal here.
This is a great victory for families, but it’s only a victory if they are able to fill out the tax form and get the money they’re due. Please help to spread the word!