Stimulus Checks: IRS Urges Nearly 9 Million People To Sign Up By October 15
Updated October 9, 2020. The IRS changed the registration deadline to November 21, 2020, stating that “this new date will provide an additional five weeks beyond the original deadline.”
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The IRS urges you to sign up by October 15 (this has been extended to November 21) to claim your stimulus check.
Last week, September 17, the IRS issued a news release urging nearly nine million people to sign up to receive the $1,200 stimulus check. This letter, which was recently mailed out, represents the latest attempt by the IRS to reach people who are eligible to receive a $1,200 stimulus check but either don’t realize that they can claim this stimulus check or don’t understand how to go about requesting it.
The IRS is urging you to claim your stimulus check by November 21.
If you don’t typically file a federal income tax return, this message is for you. It doesn’t matter if you’re unemployed. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t earn any income at all. It doesn’t matter if you are homeless, and it doesn’t matter if you haven’t filed taxes for years. What matters is that you may very well be eligible to receive a $1,200 stimulus check, and it is important that you use the IRS Non-Filers tool by November 21 to claim your stimulus check.
Low-income, no-income and/or homeless people are eligible to receive a stimulus check.
Here’s a state-by-state breakdown of unclaimed stimulus checks. Stimulus checks are just sitting there waiting for low-income, no-income, unemployed and those who have become homeless. If this sounds like you or someone you know, the only requirement is that this stimulus money must be claimed. If you haven’t yet received a stimulus check, you should register here now because the deadline is November 21—though the earlier you sign up, the sooner you can get hold of your stimulus monies.
There is absolutely no requirement in the law that you must actually earn an income or pay taxes in order to get a stimulus check. According to the IRS, U.S. citizens, permanent residents and qualifying resident aliens who meet the following guidelines are eligible for a stimulus check.
- You have a valid social security number,
- You cannot be claimed as a dependent of another taxpayer, and
- You have an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less if single; $112,500 or less if head of household; $150,000 or less if married filing a joint return.
- Reduced payments are available for those who earn more than the above amounts but still earn less than $99,000 per year or less for individuals, $136,500 per year or less for head of household and $198,000 per year or less for married filing jointly.
Use the IRS Non-Filers tool to claim your stimulus check.
The IRS, in partnership with the Free File Alliance, developed this Non-Filers tool to assist those who don’t normally file taxes to claim their stimulus checks. The Non-Filers tool is available in both the English and Spanish languages to help guide people through the process of getting a stimulus check.
People who earned $12,200 or less as an individual aren’t normally required to file taxes. Married couples who earned $24,400 aren’t normally required to file taxes. If this describes you, use the Non-Filers tool to sign up for a stimulus check.
- Use the Non-Filers tool to register for a stimulus check if you earned $12,200 or less as an individual or $24,400 or less as a married couple.
- Use the Non-Filers tool to register for a stimulus check even if you didn’t earn any income at all.
- Use the Non-Filers tool to register for a stimulus check even if you are homeless.
- Use the Non-Filers tool to get a stimulus check even if you have been unemployed for a long time or have never worked at all.
Don’t use the Non-Filers tool to get a stimulus check if either of these applies.
- If you haven’t yet received your stimulus check but you’ve already filed a tax return for 2018 or 2019, do not use the Non-Filers tool. Instead, use the Get My Payment to check on the status of your stimulus payment.
- If you’re required to file taxes for 2018 or 2019 but haven’t yet done so, do not use the Non-Filers tool. Instead, go ahead and file your taxes and then the IRS will send you a stimulus check if you are eligible.
The IRS is asking employers and others to help get the word out about these stimulus checks.
If you are an employer, a community leader or simply an interested party and you can share this message, do so. Specifically, employers and colleagues should help to spread this message to your low-income earners, essential workers or others who’ve been unemployed where you believe the person may have earned less than $12,200 as an individual or $24,400 as a married couple.
As part of IRS extensive outreach and education efforts regarding stimulus checks, Commissioner Chuck Rettig stated that, "IRS employees worked around the clock to deliver the Economic Impact Payments and new tools to help taxpayers in record time." He also said that, "Even with these unprecedented steps, there remain people eligible for these payments who need to take action. Registering to receive the payments is easy, and millions of non-filers have already taken this step. We urge everyone to share this information widely to help more people receive these payments."
Given this, community leaders and employers in underserved or disadvantaged areas can—and should—step up and help in this effort to inform more low-income, no-income, homeless or otherwise disadvantaged individuals about using this Non-Filers tool to claim their stimulus checks.
You can also check out this state-by-state breakdown of unclaimed stimulus checks.
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Updated October 9, 2020. The IRS changed the registration deadline to November 21, 2020, stating that “this new date will provide an additional five weeks beyond the original deadline.”
