Biden administration announces efforts to help people get their stimulus payments

The Treasury Department on Friday announced new efforts to help people get coronavirus stimulus payments they haven’t yet received.

The announcement from Treasury comes after President Biden signed an executive order that directs federal agencies to take further action to address the pandemic-related economic downturn.

Congress provided for two rounds of stimulus payments for most Americans in legislation passed last year. A law enacted in March ordered payments of up to $1,200 per adult and $500 per child, and another enacted in December provided for a second round of up to $600 per adult and per child.

Most households have already received both of the payments to which they are entitled, but some have not. Some of the people who have not yet gotten their payments are those who are not typically required to file tax returns because they have very low incomes.

People who have not received any payment for which they are eligible can claim their payments as a credit when they file their 2020 tax returns this year.

Treasury said Friday that it will build on the IRS’s previous work to establish web tools that nonfilers can use to provide information to the agency so that they can receive their payments. The department also said that it would reach out to people who may not have internet access or may not speak English.

Treasury also said it plans to reach out to households that were issued paper checks or debit cards that haven’t yet been cashed or activated. And it said it plans to conduct research to figure out which groups of potentially eligible households have not yet received payments, in an effort to help it and the IRS target their outreach efforts.

Democrats are hoping to pass legislation this year that authorizes additional direct payments. A proposal Biden released last week calls for payments of $1,400.