Congressman Kim Announces Win For Seniors In Need of Direct Relief Payments

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Andy Kim (NJ-03) announced that after calling on the Trump Administration to ensure seniors who don’t file tax returns can still access direct relief payments authorized by the CARES Act, the Department of Treasury announced plans to directly issue payments to social security beneficiaries. This means millions of seniors, veterans and low-income individuals who would have had to file a tax return will now receive their payments without any further action.

“This announcement is a big win for New Jersey’s seniors who need immediate financial help, not bureaucratic red tape,” said Congressman Kim. “I’m glad that the Administration answered my call, and the demands of many of my colleagues to make this change, and hope they continue to find ways to fast-track aid and assistance to our communities to fight this pandemic and help our neighbors through the economic impact.”

The CARES Act includes direct relief payments to Americans to help get through the economic crisis caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. Some facts about the timing of the direct payments includes:

• The IRS will make about 60 million payments to Americans through direct deposit in mid-April (likely, the week of April 13th).  The IRS has direct deposit information for these individuals from their 2018 or 2019 tax returns.
• About 3 weeks after those deposits are made (the week of May 4th), the IRS will begin issuing paper checks to individuals.
• The paper checks will be issued at a rate of about 5 million per week, which could take up to 20 weeks to get all the checks out.
• The checks will be issued in reverse “adjusted gross income” order—starting with people with the lowest income first.

Information about Congressman Kim’s actions to contain the Coronavirus pandemic and address the ongoing economic impact can be found on his website by clicking here.

Congressman Kim is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Small Business. More information about Congressman Kim can be found on his website by clicking here.

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