Letter to the Hon. Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, and the Hon. Charles Rettig, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service - Davis, Larson, Blumenauer, Schneider, and Higgins Lead Letter Urging IRS to Provide Automatic COVID-19 Relief Payments to Supplemental Security Income Beneficiaries

Letter

Dear Secretary Mnuchin and Commissioner Rettig:

As Members on the Committee with jurisdiction over Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security, we thank you for your decision to send Social Security beneficiaries their CARES Act economic impact payments automatically without the burden of filing a simplified tax return, and we strongly urge you also to adopt automatic payments for vulnerable elderly and disabled individuals receiving SSI so that they can receive this critical financial support during the coronavirus public health crisis.

There are approximately 8 million SSI recipients. They all have extremely limited financial means. About 29 percent are 65 and older1, and 86 percent are blind or have severe disabilities.2 In December 2018, more than half of all SSI recipients had no other income.3 Further, given their extremely low incomes, many SSI beneficiaries do not need to file income taxes. A recent study by the Congressional Budget Office found that individuals with SSI income were only 1 percent of filers in 2006, whereas they were 11% of nonfilers.4 As a result, if the Administration fails to act, millions of Americans might not receive their emergency economic impact payments.

Requiring these individuals to file any tax return, even a simplified one, would present disproportionate undue burden and harm to these very vulnerable and poor elderly and disabled individuals. These individuals experience physical health, mental health, and access issues that make filing even a simple tax return a challenging -- if not insurmountable -- barrier. They have severe disabilities; they have dementia and cognitive impairments; they are extremely low-income and lack the requisite technology and skills; and many of their informal care networks have been shut off due to the pandemic.

Given these barriers, requiring these individuals to file even a simplified tax return in effect acts as a denial of economic impact relief. Given that the Social Security Administration currently pays these vulnerable elderly and disabled individuals via electronic funds transfer, the Federal government already has all the information necessary for automatic payments.

We strongly urge you to provide guidance allowing economic impact payments to be sent to SSI recipients automatically. Thank you, in advance, for your prompt attention to the matter.