Deadline For 9 Million Americans To Get Late Stimulus Checks, Child Tax Credit Incoming
Millions of Americans who qualify for both stimulus checks and Child Tax Credit payments haven’t yet received them. The deadline to get them is approaching rapidly.
In October of 2022, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) announced that at least 9 million Americans who qualified for the 2021 stimulus checks and Child Tax Credits haven’t yet received them.
Although time hasn’t run out for those people who never received pandemic stimulus checks to get them, the deadline is coming. The deadline to file a simplified tax return to receive your stimulus check, or missing child tax credit payments, is Tuesday, November 15th. You still have over a day to file your simplified tax return to receive thousands of dollars in payments from the IRS.
Why Are So Many People Missing Their Stimulus Checks And Child Tax Credits?
To receive stimulus funds, Americans were required to file a tax return, regardless of income level. In normal years, those earning under a certain threshold are not required to file. But to ensure proper distribution of funds, the IRS asked that everyone file a return. For those with no permanent address or bank account or who did not file taxes, funds may have been misdirected or not distributed at all.
"Throughout the pandemic, IRS and Treasury struggled to get COVID-relief payments into the hands of some people—especially those with lower incomes, limited internet access, or experiencing homelessness," the GAO report stated.
How Do I Apply To Receive My Stimulus Checks?
“Individuals with little or no income, and therefore not required to pay taxes, have until November 15th to complete a simplified tax return to get their payments,” explained the GAO. “Taxpayers who missed the April 15 deadline have until October 17.”
The IRS recommends that individuals with little or no income use its FreeFile program, a resource for low-income Americans to file simplified taxes. The program will be available until mid-November.
To claim missing stimulus funds, people should also visit the Economic Impact Payments website for further instructions to claim their missing 2021 stimulus check.
I Didn’t Get My Child Tax Credit Payments. How Do I Apply To Get Mine?
Millions of families missed out on the monthly Child Tax Credits (CTC), despite qualifying for the cash. These families also still have time to file for payouts.
The CTC payments provided as much as $3,600 per child to families between June and December 2021 and helped lift four million children out of poverty.
The CTC payments ended in December 2021, but families have until Tuesday, November 15th of this year to file a tax return to claim their payments.
The U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS launched a campaign to reach out to eligible individuals and families who still haven’t received the funds, but no data is available regarding how successful the campaign was in contacting people.
“We found that underserved communities such as non-filers, first-time filers, unbanked/underbanked, mixed immigrant status families, those with limited internet access, and those experiencing homelessness were likely to experience difficulties with receiving their payments in a timely manner,” the GAO report explained, noting that there was no evidence that the IRS had plans to continue the campaign.
To claim missing Child Tax Credit funds, go to getctc.org. File your information as soon as possible in order to receive the money you are owed.
“The money is there; the money is yours,” Gabriel Zucker, who works for Code for America, told CNBC.
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