The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today it is working on a plan with the Treasury Department and IRS to get $1,200 coronavirus relief checks to millions of veterans who could be left out.
Many Americans have already begun receiving their federal emergency relief payments by direct deposit. But veterans service organizations and lawmakers in Congress worried as many as 2 million veterans could miss out because of the way the checks are delivered.
The IRS is using information provided on previous tax returns to determine who is eligible for the checks and where to send them.
But not all veterans, or surviving family members of veterans, file taxes each year because their income is primarily made up of untaxed benefits, such as disability or survivor benefits or pensions.
On Friday, VA announced it was "working directly" with the IRS and Treasury "to ensure delivery" of the checks to veterans who get benefits payments from VA "without additional paperwork or IRS filings."
The payments will be issued "automatically to recipients of non-taxable VA benefits who did not file annual income tax returns" the last two years, VA said in a news release.
“Many have expressed concern that veterans and their beneficiaries would be overlooked during the distribution of Economic Impact Payments from the CARES Act simply because they don’t file an annual tax return,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said in a statement. “This collaboration will ensure our veterans receive CARES Act payments without any additional action or paperwork required.”
VA said the payments will be automatic and "no further action is needed" unless the veteran has dependents.
If a veteran has a dependent, they must take an additional step "and the sooner the better," VA said.
Veterans who don't usually file taxes, but have dependents and want the additional $500 relief check, should go to the website the IRS set up for non-tax filers here and submit the information required about qualifying dependents.
Veterans and beneficiaries can track the status of their payments on the "Get my Payment" tool on IRS.gov, though it may take a few weeks for the information to be uploaded, VA said.
Those payments are about $1,200 for those whose taxable income is lower than $75,000 and were approved under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed by Congress and signed into law by the president last month, plus an additional $500 per dependent child,
For veterans, it should be the same -- so long as a veteran's total taxable income is lower than $75,000 per year and no one claims them as a dependent, they should receive the checks. The government plans to use the most recently available prior tax returns to determine income and direct deposit information or a recent address to make the payments.
The IRS set up a website for veterans or family members to enter direct-deposit information so they can get the relief payments directly to their bank accounts. But not everyone has access to a computer, the internet or the information the IRS is asking for on the site.
Lawmakers said the website is not enough to ensure veterans and beneficiaries get the money.
The website to sign up for direct deposit if you do not usually file taxes is www.irs.gov/coronavirus/non-filers-enter-payment-info-here and includes information you'll need to provide, including your name, address, email, date of birth, Social Security number, banking information and more. Click the "Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here" button on that page to be taken to a Free File Fillable Forms site, a "certified IRS partner" that is "safe and secure," according to the IRS.
While no date for check distribution has been set, VA said it was securely sharing veteran and beneficiary data with the Treasury Department to allow for direct deposit of the emergency relief payments.
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Millions of veterans could miss out on $1,200 coronavirus relief checks. Here's why.
Lawmakers, VSOs to VA: Work with IRS to ensure all veterans get federal $1,200 relief checks
IRS site to help veterans, survivors who don't file taxes get $1,200 coronavirus checks
Reach Abbie Bennett: abbie@connectingvets.com or @AbbieRBennett.
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