Stimulus Payment: Are You at Risk of Missing Out on $1,200 Checks?

By Madelaine D. First Posted: Sep 22, 2020 07:29 AM EDT

Millions of Americans might miss the $1,200 stimulus checks because of incomplete government records.

Congress' auditing arm, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), said there are at least 8.7 million Americans eligible for a stimulus payment. However, they have yet to receive it as there could be inadequate Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Treasury Department records.

It was one of the findings in the GAO's latest report published Monday on the handling of the unprecedented $2.6 trillion in support passed by Congress last spring.

According to The Sun, he watchdog group also called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide more guidance to local schools when they can safely reopen.

GAO said the IRS did implement several recommendations that the auditing arm had made in a June report to ensure those eligible for the payments received them, such as extending the deadline for individuals who had not filed an income tax return to apply for the payments through Sept. 30.

However, the GAO noted that the IRS and Treasury have more works that need to be done as they still failed to update information on how many eligible recipients have yet to receive funds.

Stimulus Checks: Aren't You One in Danger of Missing Out on $1,200?

(Photo : Alexander Schimmeck)
The $1,200 stimulus checks might be missed by millions of Americans due to uncompleted government files.

In an ABC report, GAO said that the lack of "such information could hinder outreach efforts and place potentially millions of individuals at risk of missing their payment."

In April, the GAO reported that the Treasury estimated that 30 million individuals, including 16 million on Social Security and railroad pensions and 14 million who do not normally file tax returns, had not received their payments.

The IRS then reported that 5.3 million individuals had used an online IRS tool for non-filers to help them receive payments as of July 31.

These numbers would mean that there could be at least 8.7 million or more individuals eligible for the payments but have not received them, as per The Sun's report. They are also at risk of losing the $1,200 coronavirus stimulus checks.

On the report from the Congress' Auditing arm on Monday, it noted that those possible eligible individuals have incomplete IRS and Treasury Department records.

Apart from the problem of missing individuals eligible for the payments, an earlier GAO report found that nearly 1.1 million in coronavirus relief payments worth around $1.6 billion went to dead people.

According to the Associated Press, Treasury officials have since recovered about 70 percent of that money.

Forbes reported that GAO's report came during a partisan showdown in Congress over the second round of the stimulus package.

On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) insisted that nothing less than another $2.2 trillion could be agreed after a rebuke of the "skinny bill" favored by the Republican lawmakers.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump also pressed the GOP caucus to take up a higher bid-including the next stimulus payments as "the president wants to see people get money."

In May, the House Democrats passed the Heroes Act, a $3.4 trillion stimulus package, but the Senate never took up the bill.