Stimulus Checks: Deadline to Claim Payment Just 10 Days Away for Nearly 9 Million People

Some citizens still haven't applied for their CARES Act stimulus checks, and the deadline for those nearly nine million people to claim their payments is just 10 days away. Essentially, this may affect people who had not yet filed 2018 or 2019, tax returns. According to Newsweek, The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has made attempts to get in contact those individuals, and now the cut-off date for getting their money is Oct. 15.

The IRS has sent letters out to those believed to be affected by the situation, advising them that the deadline to file is closing in. "Time is running out this year for the IRS to issue payments," IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in a statement in September. "People who normally don't file a tax return shouldn't wait to see if they receive one of these letters. They can review the guidelines and register now if they're eligible." There is a non-filers tool on the IRS website that citizens can use to apply for their stimulus payment if they believe they are eligible.

With the October 15 deadline quickly approaching, #IRS encourages taxpayers to consult an independent tax advisor if they participated in a micro-captive insurance transaction. Learn more: https://t.co/xchM3qtnbN

— IRS #COVIDreliefIRS (@IRSnews) October 5, 2020

In addition to the first round of coronavirus relief stimulus checks simply not being sent to some Americans, the IRS also reported that it believes around 800,000 taxpayers might have tossed their payments into the trash, per Forbes. The department determined that the majority of these cases were stimulus payments sent by way of Economic Impact Payment, or EIP, cards. The IRS stated that there was reason to believe that many people who received their payment may have accidentally "threw out the debit card thinking it was junk mail."

The IRS also sent out letters to those believed to have been impacted by that situation, as well, with a senior US Treasury official reporting that it "received a significant response" to the correspondence. "Approximately 92% of cards have been activated to date and new activation continue to come in daily," the official explained. "As of August 24, 2020, the number of cards not yet activated was 297,671." The first round of stimulus payments were sent out on EIP cards to about four million citizens. The card works just like a prepaid debit card and contains only the amount of money designated by the details of the bill.