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Veterans with dependents who have yet to receive their coronavirus checks must contact the Treasury Department by Wednesday at noon, or risk missing out on the extra $500 per eligible child, according to the Military Times.
Without taking action, veterans will still receive their $1,200. However, they will have to wait until next year to get the extra $500 per dependent. The deadline was implemented on Monday afternoon, giving less than 48 hours’ notice.
Samantha Jacoby, a seniors tax analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, tells CNN, “Many of those people could end up missing out on the $500 per child stimulus payment altogether, given the difficulty of either meeting an extraordinarily tight deadline or having to file a full — not simple — tax return for 2020 to get the payment in 2021.”
The Military Times quotes Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as saying, “If the IRS does not receive this essential information by Wednesday, their payment will be $1,200 and the $500 per child will be paid to them with a return filing for tax year 2020.”
In other words, veterans eligible for the $500 per dependent must register by Wednesday, or risk missing out on their money as part of their 2020 tax returns.
The above also applies to those receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits– if individuals who fall into these categories have children under 17, they should go to the government’s website for non-filers to make sure they receive the extra $500 per child.
To submit that information, you will need full names, along with Social Security numbers for your spouses and dependents, a mailing address, bank account, and routing number.
The IRS Issued a Special Alert on April 20
On April 20, the IRS issued a special alert for benefit recipients who didn’t file a tax return in 2018 or 2019 and have dependents.
They write, “Their $1,200 payments will be issued soon and, in order to add the $500 per eligible child amount to these payments, the IRS needs the dependent information before the payments are issued. Otherwise, their payment at this time will be $1,200 and, by law, the additional $500 per eligible child amount would be paid in association with a return filing for tax year 2020.”
Those who receive Supplemental Security Income have more time to input this information because their stimulus payments will go out a bit later.
Veterans Beneficiaries Will Be Receiving Their Automatic Payments “Soon”
The IRS website reports that the $1,200 automatic payments will be “starting soon” for those who receive disability benefits and Veterans Affairs. If you do not have a dependent, no further steps are required.
IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig states, “We want to ‘Plus $500’ these recipients with children so they can get their maximum Economic Impact Payment of $1,200 plus $500 for each eligible child as quickly as possible. They’ll get $1,200 automatically, but they need to act quickly and register at IRS.gov to get the extra $500 per child added to their payment. These groups don’t normally have a return filing obligation and may not realize they qualify for a larger payment. We’re asking people and organizations throughout the country to share this information widely and help the IRS with the Plus $500 Push.”
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