IRS extends filing deadline for child stimulus payments

The IRS on Friday announced a new Sept. 30 deadline for people who don’t typically file tax returns to claim $500 in stimulus money for their children.

The IRS had previously asked non-filers, such as recipients of Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Railroad Retirement and Veterans Affairs benefits, to use an online tool on its website to claim their eligible dependents by May 5.

The IRS said it needed non-filers to take that extra step because they were missing the information they would normally have from regular tax filings.

But with that deadline long passed, the IRS said it would renew the registration period for those who had not yet received the $500 per child starting on Saturday and running through the end of September.

“IRS employees have been working non-stop to deliver more than 160 million Economic Impact Payments [EIP] in record time,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig.

“Given the extremely high demand for EIP assistance, we have continued to prioritize and increase resource allocations to eligible individuals, including those who may be waiting on some portion of their payment,” he added.

The payments, which were approved in March’s emergency COVID-19 relief law the CARES Act, are set to be issued in mid-October.