Today, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) announced a timeline the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is working to fulfill for direct payments made available as a result of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which Congresswoman Bustos recently helped pass into law.
“Illinoisans are facing uncertain financial futures due to the coronavirus outbreak and we must work to deliver relief to working families,” Congresswoman Bustos said. “I’ll continue to closely monitor the direct payments process to ensure they are received by those most in need.”
The CARES Act provides direct cash payments to lower-and middle-income Americans of $1,200 for each adult and $500 for each child, beginning to phase out at an annual income of $75,000 for an individual and $150,000 for a household.
According to the House Ways and Means Committee, the IRS is expected to make about 60 million payments to Americans via direct deposit the week of April 13th, 2020 and 2019 tax returns will be used as direct deposit information. Beginning the week of May 4th, the IRS will start issuing paper checks to individuals at a rate of about 5 million per week, which could take up to roughly 20 weeks.
The IRS encourages taxpayers to file their 2019 tax returns to the extent possible and Social Security beneficiaries will automatically be issued their payments. The IRS is also working to establish a portal that will allow taxpayers, once they have been authenticated, to find out the status of their rebate payment and update direct deposit information.