While the three rounds of stimulus check payments from the federal government during the pandemic definitely helped millions of citizens throughout the country, it doesn’t seem to be enough.
Currently, there are around 10 million people who haven’t yet claimed their money, according to a new report that has been released. In this report published by the Government Accountability Office, it has been documented that close to 165 million Americans have been deemed eligible for the stimulus payments, which had a total sum of $931 billion in direct payments.
The IRS also went on to rely on several tax returns in order to determine eligibility, as well as send payments to families and individuals. They also relied on the information from bank accounts, as well as home addresses for mailing in the payments.
Stimulus Check Deadline For People Filing Their Taxes
Last Thursday, the IRS claimed that it would be sending letters to around 9 million families more- those who have been deemed eligible for the benefits which also include stimulus check payments or Child Tax Credits but hadn’t claimed them while filing a tax return for 2021. The department also noted that it would be keeping the website open for people to file their taxes till the 17th of November.
The program under this website, Free File, usually allows individuals with an annual income under $73,000 to file a return online for free through several third-party tax preparers such as 1040Now, or TaxAct.
Interestingly, there is still some time for people to sign in for the expanded Child Tax Credit or the stimulus check payment, which was provided to eligible families the previous year. The credit went on to provide around $3,600 to families that had children under the age of 17- but parents who didn’t receive the payment last year will have only till the 15th of November to claim the payments.