SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Social Security beneficiaries won’t have to take any extra steps to receive the one-time stimulus checks under the coronavirus recovery program.
In a statement late Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Social Security recipients who are usually not required to file a tax return need to take no action and will receive their payment directly to their bank account.
All eligible Americans who filed tax returns in 2018 and 2019 will automatically sent the checks within the next three weeks.
This announcement reverses a previous statement made by the IRS requiring people, who under normal circumstances would not have to file their taxes, to submit a tax return to ensure eligibility.
According to Mnuchin, the IRS will now use Social Security data to generate payments to Social Security recipients who did not file tax returns in 2018 or 2019.
The IRS said it is setting up a web-based portal at IRS.gov/coronavirus to provide more information on how to file a 2019 tax return and receive a payment.
