Americans who have not received stimulus payments under the three laws passed in Congress are most likely low-income non-filers and will have to do additional paperwork with the IRS.
If you are one of the Americans who have not yet received any of the three stimulus checks distributed by the federal government through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) while you were eligible, you are most likely among the low-income people for whom the agency does not have information to process the payment.
Many of the cases of beneficiaries who have not yet received coronavirus stimulus checks are low-income individuals who are not required to file IRS tax returns. This means that the agency does not have the information on file to process the so-called “Economic Impact Payments” for this population.
The agency has recommended in these instances that individuals file a tax return as soon as possible even if they are not required to do so and claim the amount or amounts owed for stimulus checks through a “Refund Recovery Credit”.
In cases where the IRS provided an underpayment or without the extra dependent credits, taxpayers can also claim this money through the referred credit on the return this year.
In fact, the IRS reported this week that it is processing payments applicable to tax returns of individuals who filed their tax information this season for the first time because of the above reason.
Previously, the agency announced that it is processing “extra payments” to those who were underpaid in the third round. The extra payments apply to taxpayers who were issued an initial one based on the 2019 tax return, but the IRS later received this year’s and had to make an adjustment based on the difference in income between the two returns.
As for “non-filers,” last year, the IRS enabled for the first round of payments of $1,200 the online tool known as “Non-filers.”
Through the service, users could submit their personal data for the agency to process their payment. However, the application was available until November.
Beginning with the second and third rounds, any stimulus checks not processed by the IRS must be claimed through the “Refund Recovery Credit” on this year’s tax return.
In the cases of beneficiaries of government programs such as the Social Security Administration (SSA) and Veterans Administration (VA) who do not file taxes and the third round of stimulus checks, the IRS works directly with these agencies to provide information on these recipients so that they do not have to go through additional paperwork to receive payment.
Most undocumented immigrants are ineligible
Before proceeding with any application to the IRS, one point to consider is that undocumented immigrants are not eligible for stimulus checks unless they are married to a citizen. Also, children of these couples with valid Social Security numbers would receive the payment.
The current $1,400 stimulus check law and the previous $600 stimulus check law provide for undocumented married spouses who have permission to be in the country to also receive the funds. However, the payment would be credited to the person with valid Social Security.
As part of the changes in the stimulus laws for the second and third rounds, this group was included, but other undocumented populations remain excluded from assistance.
“For taxpayers who file jointly with a spouse and only one person has a valid SSN, the spouse with a valid SSN will receive up to a $1,400 payment and up to $1,400 for each qualifying dependent claimed on the 2020 tax return,” the IRS states on its website.
As part of the first round, this group, both documented and undocumented, were excluded from assistance.