As many as 2 million veterans could miss out on $1,200 federal coronavirus relief checks already rolling out to Americans.
The IRS is using information provided on previous tax returns to determine who is eligible for the checks and where to send them.
But not all veterans, or surviving family members of veterans, file taxes each year because their income is primarily made up of untaxed benefits, such as disability or survivor benefits or pensions.
Those payments are about $1,200 for those whose taxable income is lower than $75,000 and were approved under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed by Congress and signed into law by the president last month.
For veterans, it should be the same -- so long as a veteran's total taxable income is lower than $75,000 per year and no one claims them as a dependent, they should receive the checks. The government plans to use the most recently available prior tax returns to determine income and direct deposit information or a recent address to make the payments.
The IRS set up a website for veterans or family members to enter direct-deposit information so they can get the relief payments directly to their bank accounts. But not everyone has access to a computer, the internet or the information the IRS is asking for on the site.
And lawmakers said the website is not enough to ensure veterans and beneficiaries get the money.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, previously called on VA and the IRS to work together to make sure those veterans and families -- some of the most vulnerable -- receive automatic payments.
On Tuesday, Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, called on the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS to automatically distribute the stimulus checks, including to homeless veterans.
“By requiring a tax return to receive a stimulus check, this policy creates an unnecessary hurdle that threatens to leave some of the most vulnerable veterans behind.” Takano said in a statement Tuesday. “Veterans that rely primarily on VA benefits have no reason to file taxes and many haven’t filed a tax return in years. During this unprecedented crisis, it is unacceptable to ask veterans and their families to take on the burden of filing taxes when the federal government can get this relief into vulnerable veterans’ pocketbooks automatically.”
The website as a solution "fails to go far enough to alleviate burdensome red tape" for veterans, Takano's news release said, "and will likely result in many low-income veterans missing out on their stimulus checks."
The IRS and Treasury already have announced they planned a workaround to automatically send the payments to Americans who depend on Social Security and don't regularly file taxes.
"There is no reason veterans should not receive these benefits automatically," Takano said.
Veteran service organizations estimate the number of affected veterans and survivors to reach nearly 2 million.
The website to sign up for direct deposit if you do not usually file taxes is www.irs.gov/coronavirus/non-filers-enter-payment-info-here and includes information you'll need to provide, including your name, address, email, date of birth, Social Security number, banking information and more. Click the "Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here" button on that page to be taken to a Free File Fillable Forms site, a "certified IRS partner" that is "safe and secure," according to the IRS.
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Lawmakers, VSOs to VA: Work with IRS to ensure all veterans get federal $1,200 relief checks
IRS site to help veterans, survivors who don't file taxes get $1,200 coronavirus checks
Reach Abbie Bennett: abbie@connectingvets.com or @AbbieRBennett.
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