According to various news reports, Social Security beneficiaries will automatically receive a $1,200 emergency assistance payment – without having to file a tax return to the Internal Revenue Service, which was the original arrangement under the $2 trillion relief bill that was recently signed into law.
The news came after a group of 41 senator recently wrote a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Mike Mnuchin to express their alarm that the IRS “released contradictory guidance earlier this week stating that Social Security beneficiaries would need to file tax returns in order to receive direct payments.”
The letter came after the IRS website offered the following instructions: “[P]eople who typically do not file a tax return will need to file,” including low-income taxpayers, senior citizens, Social Security recipients, some veterans and individuals with disabilities.