The Internal Revenue Service is giving taxpayers more time until Nov. 21 to register their dependents for the $500 per child Economic Impact Payments provided under the CARES Act.
The IRS said Monday that it’s extending the time to give people who were unable to provide their information earlier. Under the CARES Act that was passed by Congress in March in response to the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic, the IRS sent out $1,200 to each taxpayer, plus an additional $500 per child. It originally relied on information from taxpayers’ 2018 and 2019 tax returns, but since in many cases the information was missing, out of date or incomplete, the IRS set up a portal where taxpayers could register their information.
An estimated 9 million people haven't yet received an Economic Impact Payment. The IRS needs to send out the stimulus by the end of the year. It is extending the timeline for registering until 3:00 p.m. ET on Nov 21. The deadline had been Sept. 30 until the latest extension.
Theodora (Theo) Lau is the director of market innovation for AARP and a contributing writer for various digital technology and financial services publications.
Jessica Word is president of Word & Brown General Agency. Established in 1985 and headquartered in Orange, Calif., it is one the state’s largest general agents. For additional information, visit wordandbrown.com.
Tom Sanzillo, director of finance for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, is the author of several studies on coal plants, rate impacts, credit analyses and public and private financial structures for the coal industry. He has testified as an expert witness, taught energy-industry finance, and is quoted frequently by the media. Sanzillo has 17 years of experience with the City and the State of New York in various senior financial and policy management positions. He is a former first deputy comptroller for the State of New York, where he held oversight over a $156 billion pension fund and $200 billion in municipal bond programs.
Following recent IRS programming updates, anyone who registers using the Non-Filers: Enter Info Here before the 3 p.m. Eastern Nov. 21 extended due date will receive an Economic Impact Payment, if they’re eligible. That includes federal beneficiaries who already received an EIP but didn’t receive a supplemental $500 payment for qualifying children.
The additional time will enable them to enter the information on their qualifying children using the Non-Filers tool on IRS.gov.
Those who are eligible to provide this information include people with qualifying children who receive Social Security retirement, survivor or disability benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Railroad Retirement benefits and Veterans Affairs Compensation and Pension (C&P) benefits and did not file a tax return in 2018 or 2019.
The IRS is also encouraging anybody who didn’t have a requirement to file a tax return in 2018 or 2019 to register for an Economic Impact Payment by using the Non-Filers tool before the Nov. 21 deadline. The IRS originally didn’t have information on many of these taxpayers, so it was unable to send them the initial round of stimulus payments.
The IRS is encouraging people to choose direct deposit to receive their payments, as it will speed up processing when using the Non-Filers tool. Those who don’t choose this option will get a check in the mail instead. Starting two weeks after they register, people can track the status of their stimulus payments using the Get My Payment tool, accessible from IRS.gov.
