14 Apr Millions Of Veterans May Miss Out On Coronavirus Stimulus Checks
The coronavirus stimulus payments have started arriving in American bank accounts beginning this week. However, more than 2 million veterans might miss out on the federal stimulus payments.
The IRS is distributing the checks up to a maximum of $1,200 per person to eligible households who have filed for taxes in the past. The glitch here is that many veterans and their survivors who depend entirely on government benefits, such as VA disability & compensation from Veterans Affairs, do not ideally submit a return.
This year, it could lead to millions of veterans missing out on their coronavirus stimulus program payment.
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Veterans advocacy groups have estimated that around 1.9 million veterans and their survivors could fall into this category. Advocates demand that as the federal government already has bank account information for all these Veterans’ households, VA, IRS, and Treasury Department should work together to waive the filing requirement and ensure that veterans receive their due stimulus payment.
“We are gravely concerned that absent quick and decisive action from the Administration, millions of seriously disabled veterans, their survivors and caregivers – who are among the most vulnerable Americans during the ongoing coronavirus health crisis – may never receive this critical financial support,” a dozen of the nation’s largest veterans service organizations wrote in a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and VA Secretary Robert Wilkie this month.
On Friday, the IRS started an online tool that permits households who do not typically file a tax return to submit necessary personal information to obtain their payments quickly. The site expressly encourages disabled veterans and their survivors to fill out the information.
But this effort falls short of the permanent fix that lawmakers have requested for. Many affected veterans may not have a computer or internet access to submit their information, forcing them to venture out of their homes to a post office to get the necessary forms instead.
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