Pursuant to the CARES ACT (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act), individuals with income up to $75,000 for a single person or $150,000 for married and filing jointly are eligible to receive $1,200 for a single person or $2,400 for a married couple filing jointly. An additional $500 per qualifying  dependent child  under the age of 17 will also be provided to families.

For individuals who filed federal income tax returns in 2018 or 2019, you do not need to take any further action at this point. You will either receive the stimulus via direct deposit based on the information the IRS has on file or you will receive a physical check in the weeks to come.

More than 20 million taxpayers over the age of 65 do not file a federal income tax return each year – likely because their only source of income is Social Security benefits. For persons who may not have filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return, there does not appear to be clear directions at this time on how to ensure that they receive the stimulus. According to the CARES Act the filing of a tax return should not be necessary, and the payment could be direct deposited along with monthly benefit payments.  However the IRS has issued a notice that appears contrary to the actual CARES Act indicating that seniors on Social Security will need to file a simple tax return (which has not been made available at the end of March). There is also discussion of a web based portal at the Treasury Department through which people could enter their information (this has yet to be designed or implemented).

Regardless of the mechanism which will be used for “non-filers” the IRS will have to have the Social Security numbers of all parties to include any dependent children in order to generate the stimulus payment as well as information on bank accounts for direct deposit.

At this point, if you did not file in 2018 or 2019 you may want to  file a return either by hard copy or e-file. If you do not want to file the tax return for 2018 or 2019 you have the option to wait and see what action will be required of you. The stimulus payment is available through 2020, and tax payments for 2019 have been delayed until July, so you do not have to rush to file a tax return.

Be advised that the receipt of the stimulus payment will not be treated as a resource for one year and will not affect eligibility for federal means tested programs such as Medicaid, SSI or SNAP.

We will stay on top of this issue and continue to provide information as it develops in an effort to assure that all eligible seniors obtain their stimulus payments.