trungthuc
03-25-2021, 17:37
...because SSA hasn’t sent required paperwork to IRS", Rep. Richard Neal says.
Nearly 30 million Americans who benefit from Social Security and Supplemental Security Income are waiting on "desperately needed" COVID-19 stimulus checks because the Social Security Administration hasn’t sent necessary paperwork to the Internal Revenue Service, according to Rep. Richard Neal and other Democratic lawmakers.
In a letter Wednesday, Neal and other members of the House Ways and Means Committee he chairs demanded that the SSA send the required payment files to the IRS within 24 hours. They called the hold up "inexplicable" just a day after they wrote to the IRS and SSA to say there are no excuses for delays of the approved $1,400 stimulus checks to vulnerable Americans who benefit from income through Social Security, SSI, Veterans Affairs and the Railroad Retirement Board.
The delay comes as some Democratic lawmakers have urged President Joe Biden to fire SSA Commissioner Andrew Saul and Deputy Commissioner David Black, who were appointed by former President Donald Trump.
"We are aware that the IRS asked SSA to start sending payment files two weeks before the American Rescue Plan became law on March 11, 2021", the lawmakers wrote. "As of today, SSA still has not provided the IRS with the payment files that are needed to issue EIPs to these struggling Americans. We demand that you immediately provide the IRS this information by tomorrow, March 25, 2021".
The IRS has not immediately returned a message seeking details on delayed checks. MassLive reached out to the SSA for information late Wednesday afternoon.
Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John Larson of Connecticut, Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Bill Pascrell, Jr. of New Jersey, and Worker and Family Support Subcommittee Chairman Danny Davis of Illinois joined Neal in the letter. Pascrell this week repeated calls to fire Trump appointees "trying to dismantle Social Security".
"Their inability to get out stimulus checks is another reason they need to be shown the exit", he added.
In their letter to the IRS and SSA Tuesday, the same lawmakers noted that in the two previous rounds of stimulus payments during the pandemic, the agencies worked together to ensure prompt payments to Social Security, SSI, RRB and VA beneficiaries. Yet this time around, lawmakers are receiving reports of delays, putting "critical assistance on hold for millions of Americans in need", they wrote.
"The American Rescue Plan was intended to provide much-needed economic stimulus and assistance to people across the country — immediately — and we are counting on your agencies to ensure that beneficiaries are not left behind in the seamless delivery of those payments", the lawmakers wrote. "However, we were alarmed to learn recently that most Social Security, SSI, RRB, and VA beneficiaries who are not required to file a tax return have not yet received their payments and the IRS is unable to provide an expected timeline for these payments. Some of our most vulnerable seniors and persons with disabilities, including veterans who served our country with honor, are unable to pay for basic necessities while they wait for their overdue payments".
The lawmakers asked for an updated timeline for payments by Friday. They urged "IRS and SSA to move with all deliberate speed to quickly issue these payments to Social Security and SSI beneficiaries, and we urge the IRS to work with the RRB and VA to pay those beneficiaries expeditiously as well".
The direct payments are meant to send $1,400 to adults earning less than $75,000 and couples less than $150,000, as well as $1,400 for dependents. The checks phase out for Americans making more than $75,000, with a hard cut-off at $80,000 for individuals and $160,000 for married couples.
The three major stimulus packages have made clear that those who do not earn enough to file taxes, including many of the beneficiaries the Democratic lawmakers wrote about Tuesday, are eligible for payments.
The IRS has issued nearly 100 million payments since March 12 and says more are coming this week and in the weeks to follow.
https://www.masslive.com/coronavirus/2021/03/third-stimulus-check-30-million-social-security-beneficiaries-waiting-on-covid-payment-because-ssa-hasnt-sent-required-paperwork-to-irs-rep-richard-neal-says.html
https://www.vietbf.com/forum/attachment.php?attac hmentid=1763610&stc=1&d=1616783965
Nearly 30 million Americans who benefit from Social Security and Supplemental Security Income are waiting on "desperately needed" COVID-19 stimulus checks because the Social Security Administration hasn’t sent necessary paperwork to the Internal Revenue Service, according to Rep. Richard Neal and other Democratic lawmakers.
In a letter Wednesday, Neal and other members of the House Ways and Means Committee he chairs demanded that the SSA send the required payment files to the IRS within 24 hours. They called the hold up "inexplicable" just a day after they wrote to the IRS and SSA to say there are no excuses for delays of the approved $1,400 stimulus checks to vulnerable Americans who benefit from income through Social Security, SSI, Veterans Affairs and the Railroad Retirement Board.
The delay comes as some Democratic lawmakers have urged President Joe Biden to fire SSA Commissioner Andrew Saul and Deputy Commissioner David Black, who were appointed by former President Donald Trump.
"We are aware that the IRS asked SSA to start sending payment files two weeks before the American Rescue Plan became law on March 11, 2021", the lawmakers wrote. "As of today, SSA still has not provided the IRS with the payment files that are needed to issue EIPs to these struggling Americans. We demand that you immediately provide the IRS this information by tomorrow, March 25, 2021".
The IRS has not immediately returned a message seeking details on delayed checks. MassLive reached out to the SSA for information late Wednesday afternoon.
Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John Larson of Connecticut, Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Bill Pascrell, Jr. of New Jersey, and Worker and Family Support Subcommittee Chairman Danny Davis of Illinois joined Neal in the letter. Pascrell this week repeated calls to fire Trump appointees "trying to dismantle Social Security".
"Their inability to get out stimulus checks is another reason they need to be shown the exit", he added.
In their letter to the IRS and SSA Tuesday, the same lawmakers noted that in the two previous rounds of stimulus payments during the pandemic, the agencies worked together to ensure prompt payments to Social Security, SSI, RRB and VA beneficiaries. Yet this time around, lawmakers are receiving reports of delays, putting "critical assistance on hold for millions of Americans in need", they wrote.
"The American Rescue Plan was intended to provide much-needed economic stimulus and assistance to people across the country — immediately — and we are counting on your agencies to ensure that beneficiaries are not left behind in the seamless delivery of those payments", the lawmakers wrote. "However, we were alarmed to learn recently that most Social Security, SSI, RRB, and VA beneficiaries who are not required to file a tax return have not yet received their payments and the IRS is unable to provide an expected timeline for these payments. Some of our most vulnerable seniors and persons with disabilities, including veterans who served our country with honor, are unable to pay for basic necessities while they wait for their overdue payments".
The lawmakers asked for an updated timeline for payments by Friday. They urged "IRS and SSA to move with all deliberate speed to quickly issue these payments to Social Security and SSI beneficiaries, and we urge the IRS to work with the RRB and VA to pay those beneficiaries expeditiously as well".
The direct payments are meant to send $1,400 to adults earning less than $75,000 and couples less than $150,000, as well as $1,400 for dependents. The checks phase out for Americans making more than $75,000, with a hard cut-off at $80,000 for individuals and $160,000 for married couples.
The three major stimulus packages have made clear that those who do not earn enough to file taxes, including many of the beneficiaries the Democratic lawmakers wrote about Tuesday, are eligible for payments.
The IRS has issued nearly 100 million payments since March 12 and says more are coming this week and in the weeks to follow.
https://www.masslive.com/coronavirus/2021/03/third-stimulus-check-30-million-social-security-beneficiaries-waiting-on-covid-payment-because-ssa-hasnt-sent-required-paperwork-to-irs-rep-richard-neal-says.html
https://www.vietbf.com/forum/attachment.php?attac hmentid=1763610&stc=1&d=1616783965