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Scrap Tax Return Requirements for Seniors, Neal Urges

Posted on Apr. 1, 2020

A top Democratic taxwriter wants coronavirus relief checks to be issued to senior citizens and other vulnerable groups without them having to file additional paperwork with the IRS.

House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., on March 31 urged Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Social Security Administration Commissioner Andrew Saul to solve a problem those taxpayers face following the closure of several filing resources.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136) provides individuals making under $75,000 with a $1,200 recovery rebate. The payments are reduced by $5 for each $100 above $75,000.

The IRS said that eligible taxpayers who filed a tax return for either 2019 or 2018 will automatically receive a payment. But this service won’t be available to those who typically don’t file tax returns. Instead, they will have to file a simplified tax return to access the relief payments, according to recently released guidance.

Neal said the shutdown of services often frequented by low-income taxpayers, veterans, the disabled, and senior citizens — such as volunteer income tax assistance and tax counseling for the elderly — will make this process more difficult.

Neal also urged the Free File Alliance, a coalition of companies that offer free online return preparation and filing services, to work with the IRS to create a simplified tax form that can be used by nonfilers. “I believe that free tax preparation assistance can go a long way in easing the burden on non-filers who may need to file a return and helping our country during this pandemic,” Neal said in a March 31 letter to Tim Hugo, executive director of the Free File Alliance.

Mnuchin recently said the IRS is working on a system to dispense the money quicker to those who don’t have their bank information on file with the agency.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., indicated March 30 that if lawmakers can draft another relief bill, it may include another round of payments similar to those included in the CARES Act.

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