Letter to the Hon. Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, and the Hon. Charles Rettig, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service - Wyden, Cardin Lead Senate Finance Democrats Urging Treasury/IRS to Send Missed COVID Relief Payments to Non-filers with Dependents

Letter

Dear Secretary Mnuchin and Commissioner Rettig:

Thank you for the work the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have done
to distribute economic impact payments (EIP) during the COVID-19 pandemic and 2019 filing
season. If not for the tireless work of federal employees, millions of Americans would be worse
off. We write to request the Treasury and IRS take this opportunity to use existing tools to
distribute further supplemental payments to those who are in need and not make them wait until
tax time next year.

On March 27, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed
into law. This bipartisan law provides direct cash payments to individuals for financial assistance
due to the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on the economy. EIP provides up to $1,200 per eligible
adult and up to an additional $500 in cash assistance per eligible dependent child. These
economic payments were a critical component of the CARES Act to help families navigate this
health and economic crisis.

In most cases, the IRS was able to use existing 2018 or 2019 tax returns to determine eligibility
and release payments for eligible recipients and their dependents. For others, including those
who traditionally do not file taxes, the IRS created a Non-Filers Portal tool designed to assist
these non-filers in filing returns in order to receive payments.

In April, Treasury announced the EIP would be automatically sent to those receiving Social
Security retirement, disability, Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), Veterans Affairs, or
Supplemental Security Income benefits. However, for those recipients who may have eligible
dependents, including Social Security retirement, disability, and RRB recipients, were given only
48 hours to access the Non-Filers Portal in order to receive the additional $500 payments for
eligible dependents. Recipients of Veterans Affairs and Supplemental Security Income benefits
were provided slightly more time, but it was still a truncated period within which to file.

Many of these Americans with dependents were not able to meet that deadline and have to wait
until the 2020 tax filing season to receive these payments. These benefit recipients can be
especially economically disadvantaged and are in need of these payments to help ease the
economic burdens of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On June 25, the Government Accountability Office released a report titled, "Opportunities to
Improve Federal Response and Recovery Efforts." This report indicated that from April 10 to
May 17, 2020, the payments to as many as 450,000 traditional non-filers who used the NonFilers Portal did not include additional $500 for eligible dependents. Further, the report stated 2
that the IRS said it is working to identify and adjust the accounts and provide supplemental
payments by the end of July.

While we appreciate the IRS taking action to provide supplemental dependent payments to these
traditional non-filers, this action does not address those who were not able meet the truncated
deadlines to claim dependents.

For those who were issued an EIP without the dependent amount, there is a clear solution. The
IRS has announced it will keep the Non-Filers Portal open until October 15 for those who need
to file through the portal and didn't receive automatic payments. We request that the IRS allow
traditional non-filers with eligible dependents equal time and opportunity to access the NonFilers Portal in order to claim their rightful dependent payments, in line with the supplemental
payments being provided to those who made the initial short window for filing through the
portal.

If the IRS does not take these steps, economically vulnerable families will face further delays in
receiving much-needed payments. With the IRS's existing tools, the IRS can provide this relief.

We greatly appreciate the steps you have taken to ease the burden for traditional non-filers to
receive needed economic impact payments. We also recognize the steps the IRS has taken to
provide tools to help in this regard. Without these actions, many more Americans would have
missed out until next year. However, with more economically vulnerable families left out, we
request the IRS provide non-filers with dependents every opportunity to receive economic
impact payments that they deserve.