The federal stimulus checks ended in 2021 and an overwhelming majority of Americans claimed their payments through direct transfers, debit cards, and paper checks that came in through the US Postal Service. But a small percentage of Americans remain who have not claimed their payments and are in danger of missing out on the benefits.
The reasons for the people being left out are several but the Internal Revenue Service is reaching out to close to 10 million individuals and families who have missed out on the payment and are still eligible to claim stimulus checks about the COVID-19 economic impact payments, the expanded 2021 Child Tax Credit stimulus check and other payments.
Officials have gone for outreach and education measures that will hopefully ensure that vulnerable citizens, the sanction of the population that chiefly missed out on the payments claim these supplementary income resources before the simple portal tool set up online by the IRS closes on November 15, 2022.
The letter began going out from the IRS on October 13 and close to 10 million potential households and individual citizens are in line to claim the payments that they are yet to claim and were made available during and after the pandemic.
The IRS letters have instructed recipients to determine their eligibility and take the necessary measures that have been simplified and claim the tax benefits that were made available during the pandemic and later during the economic downturn.
The letters have instructed potential recipients to take the necessary steps to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit stimulus check for 2021, the expanded CTC stimulus check, half of which was paid through installments over six months between July and December 2021. They can apply for the claim by visiting www.childtaxcredit.gov/file before November 15, 2022.
Local Government Bodies Pitch In To Communicate IRS Message
The IRS has appealed to trusted community leaders, county leaders, and other people to reach out and ensure that the outreach initiated by the IRS is successful and able to reach as early as possible the benefits to the section of the people who deserve the most.
The local governments and bodies including counties, tribal bodies, and states have renewed efforts to boost enrollment throughout 2021 and 2022 for the third stimulus check the expanded CTC stimulus checks, and the Earned Income Tax Credit.
These efforts largely bore fruit and resulted in a drastic reduction in poverty, especially child poverty. But the millions still missing has become a source of contention for the IRS as it is important to trace them and let them in on the benefits.
Even though individuals and families will have until 2025 to file the full tax return retroactively and claim the funds, the IRS is striving to help them get the payments earlier, especially since most low and moderate-income families are hurting due to the rise in prices that have touched record levels lately.
To access the resources available with the federal government immediately, individuals and families must take advantage of a simplified tool provided by the IRS for non-filers or file a normal tax return using the free file tool before the deadline expires on November 15, 2022.
Local government agencies including county and tribal bodies and officials have continued to reach out to residents to reinforce the message continued in the IRS letters and help people claim the pending benefits at the earliest.
It has also become vital to let residents know that they should expect an email and also communicate to them the content of such letters. They should encourage such officials to act before the November 15 final date and claim the funds this year which is significant and can reach out to thousands of suffering families.
Expansions Of The Child Tax Credit Stimulus Check Instrumental In Reducing Child Poverty
Local bodies have realized that regular cash assistance is among the most anti-poverty tool for households and families, especially in the low and moderate-income categories. Such families are particularly vulnerable to economic uncertainty and scarcity has been found linked with an upsurge in crime.
Local bodies realize that regular cash assistance remains among the most powerful tools to combat poverty, especially in households with children. President Biden’s failure to expand the child tax credit through 2025 was one of the biggest setbacks in the fight against poverty.
Government policies ratified following the pandemic have been critically successful in reducing child poverty in America. Government social programs kept tens of millions of people out of poverty in 2021.
Child poverty reached the lowest ever recorded according to the calculations through the Supplemental Poverty Measure which included both non-cash and cash benefits. The child tax credit scheme was largely responsible for this historic low.
The CTC stimulus check alone accounted for a reduction of 2.9 million in child poverty. The expanded version, a key element of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act, lifted 2.1 million more out of poverty. The ARPA child tax credit was largely responsible for the precipitous fall in child poverty
This key component of the American Rescue Plan Act has since expired. President Biden’s desire to keep it running was thwarted by republicans in Washington. With the funds from Congress drying up, the child poverty level will again go back to new highs.
The Child Tax Credit is a payment that supported children and their families under 17 years, with each child getting between $3,000 and $3,600 under the expanded scheme, way above the normal amount of $2,000 per year.
The scope of the CTC payments was also expanded to increase the level of earnings to families receiving the credit which made it fully refundable and widely available.
Families who were not required to pay the tax due to their low earnings were also brought under the net of the child tax credit, and they were the families who required the most support in the first place. There was a 4.5% drop n poverty rates directly as an impact of the CTC stimulus checks. In total the payments were responsible for about 70% of the total fall in poverty between 2020 and 2021.
