Congressman Cohen Urges Constituents to Meet Filing Deadline to Claim Supplement Payments for Dependents

Deadline is noon on Wednesday

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today sent email notifications to constituents to ensure they are aware of Wednesday’s noon deadline for claiming supplement payments for eligible dependents for those receiving Social Security, survivor or disability and Railroad Retirement. See the letter below:

Dear Friend,

I wanted to send an urgent note to those who receive Social Security, survivor or disability, and Railroad Retirement. These individuals must claim their dependents by noon, Wednesday, April 22, 2020 to receive the supplemental $500 with their original $1,200 stimulus check. This announcement was made by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Monday, April 20, 2020.

To claim these dependents, please visit the IRS online filing tool here. Once a check has been issued, you cannot add a dependent. Those who miss the deadline but still file on the IRS website before receiving their payment will still receive the $500. However, it will be significantly delayed and arrive next year, separately from the $1,200. 

Please note that this only applies to certain individuals who were not required to file a 2018 or 2019 tax return but have dependent children under the age of 17 who qualify for the additional $500 stimulus payment.

People who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Veterans Affairs benefits and aren’t required to file a tax return will also have to use the non-filer tool to let the IRS know about any dependent children to receive the $500 stimulus payment per child.

It is best for anyone needing to file online to file soon to ensure you receive your full payment as soon as it is issued. If your check is issued before this correction is made, you will not receive the additional $500 per dependent. 

To help everyone check on the status of their payments, the IRS and Treasury Department launched the “Get My Payment” tool, which will provide people with the status of their payment, including the date their payment is scheduled to be deposited into their bank account or mailed to them. For taxpayers to track the status of their payment, they will need to enter basic information in the “Get My Payment” tool including: Social Security Number, Date of birth, and Mailing address. You can access the tool here.

Please note, “Get My Payment” cannot update bank account information after an Economic Impact Payment has been scheduled for delivery. To help protect against potential fraud, the tool also does not allow people to change bank account information already on file with the IRS.

The economic stimulus payments are structured as refundable tax credits and will therefore not be taxed. You will also not need to pay them back at any point.

If you have additional questions about the Economic Impact Payments, other provisions of the CARES Act or about COVID-19 relief, please do not hesitate to contact a staff member in my office at 901-544-4131. My office has also compiled a directory of coronavirus-related resources that we are updating regularly on my website here.

As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,

Member of Congress