Senator Hassan Urges Granite Staters to Use New IRS Portal to Expedite Direct Payments

WASHINGTON – Today, the IRS launched a new portal where individuals who do not file tax returns can enter their direct deposit information in order to receive the direct cash payments included in the CARES Act that Congress passed into law last month. The IRS also announced it would consider sending payments automatically to VA and Supplemental Security Income recipients, which Senator Hassan has called for.

“Granite Staters are under immense financial pressure as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, which is why we passed bipartisan legislation to provide direct cash payments to individuals and families,” said Senator Hassan. “While anyone who filed taxes in 2018 or 2019 or who receives Social Security retirement or disability benefits will get these payments automatically, everyone else needs to know that they currently must enter their information on this IRS portal in order to receive their direct cash payments.”

“While this is an important step forward, the Treasury Department needs to take additional actions to automatically send payments to veterans who receive disability and pension benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as those who experience disabilities and very low-income seniors who receive support from the Supplemental Security Income program. Last week, I urged the agency to automatically send payments to these veterans and other vulnerable Americans to ensure that they do not miss out on this financial support. The IRS made clear today that it is working to send payments to these individuals automatically as we have called for, and they need to make good on that," Senator Hassan continued.

Earlier this month, following calls from Senators Hassan, Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and colleagues, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that Social Security retirement and disability recipients will automatically receive direct cash assistance included in the CARES Act without having to file tax returns.

Senator Hassan recently led a follow up letter calling on the Trump Administration to issue stimulus checks automatically to recipients of benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Supplemental Security Income program. In their letter, the Senators point out that these are two groups with large amounts of non-filers and groups that the federal government has the data necessary to deliver the stimulus checks automatically.

The IRS’s guidance today said it is continuing to work to address the cases of Department of Veterans Affairs and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries: “The IRS continues to explore ways to see if Economic Impact Payments can be made automatically to SSI recipients and those who receive veterans disability compensation, pension or survivor benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs and who did not file a tax return for the 2018 or 2019 tax years. People in these groups can either use Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info option now or wait as the IRS continues to review automatic payment options to simplify delivery for these groups.”

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