Stimulus Checks: How to Get Your Coronavirus Payout If You Don’t Normally File a Tax Return

With coronavirus stimulus checks beginning to be direct deposited into the bank accounts of those who filed their 2018 or 2019 tax returns, people who do not typically file taxes finally have a way to get their payout. In a partnership between the Free File Alliance and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a non-filers tool has been launched. The tool is available on the IRS’ website by clicking here.

Listed under the “Non-Filers: Enter Your Payment Info Here” section, the tool was created specifically for those people who did not file a 2018 or 2019 federal income tax return because their gross income was under $12,200 ($24,400 for married couples) or for those who weren’t required to file a 2018 or 2019 federal income tax return for other reasons. As the IRS points out, the tool to “easily and quickly” provide the IRS the necessary information for no fee.

Navigating to the IRS website, non-filers should click the “Non-Filers: Enter Your Payment Info Here” button. Doing so will take them to a new page which lists further information regarding the process. They should then click the blue box located in the middle of the page, which will navigate to the portal where the required information can be entered.

The IRS notes that the following information will be required: full name, current mailing address and an email address; date of birth and valid Social Security number; bank account number, type and routing number, if you have one; and the Identity Protection Personal Identification Number (IP PIN) you received from the IRS earlier this year, if you have one; driver’s license or state-issued ID, if you have one. The following information will be needed for each qualifying child: name, Social Security number or Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number, and their relationship to you or your spouse.

Those accessing the portal will then be walked through a number of steps, the first being creating an account. They will then need to enter the requested information. Towards the end of the process, they will be asked to verify themselves. Once completed, non-filers will receive an email from Customer Service at Free File Fillable Forms “that either acknowledges you have successfully submitted your information, or that tells you there is a problem and how to correct it.”

“People who don’t have a return filing obligation can use this tool to give us basic information so they can receive their Economic Impact Payments as soon as possible,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said, according to Forbes. “The IRS and Free File Alliance have been working around the clock to deliver this new tool to help people.”