About 165 million Americans received financial assistance via government stimulus checks implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, but many have still not received their payouts, and the window of opportunity to do so is closing.
Between 9 million and 10 million people have not yet received their payouts, which were initially distributed more than two years ago, according to a report published this week by the Government Accounting Office.
Federal Stimulus Checks
Taxpayers who failed to file their taxes by the deadline of April 15, 2022 have until October 17, 2022, to do so and receive any unpaid stimulus funds.
The last day to submit a claim for a stimulus payment is November 15, 2022, for those who do not have enough income to have filed income taxes. To receive your reward in this situation, all you will need to do is fill out a simplified tax return.
The US government gave Americans three more direct COVID-19 stimulus payments worth a combined $931 billion between April 2020 and December 2021. The majority of those who received these payments were US citizens who made under $75,000 per year in salary or married couples who made under $150,000 per year.
The Child Tax Credit was also broadened by the government to cover more families and increase the payment amount.
Millions of Americans, however, still haven’t received the money they are entitled to since the IRS and US Treasury Department had various problems processing and distributing the payouts.
Who May Not Claim Their Stimulus Check Yet?
READ MORE: Stimulus Checks Update: Congress in Talks of Another Financial Assistance
If any of the following conditions apply, the GAO suggests that you might not have gotten stimulus checks:
- Never filed a tax return
- Filed for the first time
- Did not have a bank account or otherwise lacked access to banks
- Your family has a mixed immigrant status
- You have limited or no internet access
- You have experienced homelessness
In order to track down Americans who have not yet received their stimulus funds, the IRS and Treasury Department have started a number of outreach operations, but persistent customer service problems have hampered the process.
The IRS will get an increase of $80 billion over the next 10 years, the largest in decades, as part of a recent spending deal approved by Congress that aims to alleviate the issue. The operational support, payer services, and system modernization will each cost around $33 billion.
The GAO suggests examining these IRS webpages if you think you are still entitled a stimulus payment in the interim: irs.gov/coronavirus/EIP and ChildTaxCredit.gov to get instructions on how to fill out and submit a tax return.
