LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Back in April, when the country was locked down and millions of American found themselves jobless, and in many cases cashless, $1,200 Economic Impact Payments (EIP), widely known as stimulus checks, began arriving in mailboxes and bank accounts across the country.
Six months later, the vast majority of Americans who qualified for the payments have received them. But nine million Americans, including more than 100,000 Kentuckians, have not.
They’ve now got six weeks to change that. Late Monday, the IRS announced an extension of the deadline to claim a stimulus check, from October 15 to November 21. To help alert those who qualify, the IRS has sent a letter to millions of non-filers, or people who don't typically file a tax return because their income is so low.
“It’s people who make less than $12,000 a year,” said Nick Maraman, an senior attorney at the Legal Aid Society, which serves Louisville and 14 surrounding counties. “We’re talking about people who are self-employed and work here and there as a contractor. Maybe they have a W-2 job but they only work seasonally. Maybe they work 20 or 25 hours a week as a waitress and they don’t really go above that threshold.”
The EIP was part of the CARES Act, which President Trump signed into law on March 27. It provided $1,200 to every adult making less than $75,000 a year and an extra $500 for each child in their household. For most Americans, eligibility was determined by tax returns from 2018 and 2019. But the IRS did not have the information needed to determine eligibility for millions of low- and no-income people. Instead, it has asked them to insert their information into its online payment tool. "We will use this information to determine your eligibility and payment amount and send you an Economic Impact Payment,” the website says.
Maraman said the people who have not yet received an EIP live on the economic fringes. “We’re looking at a lot of people who are probably homeless or have been homeless in the last couple years, so there’s a reason they haven’t filed a tax return,” he said.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington think tank, non-filers are disproportionately people of color. Of the nine million yet to receive their EIP, 27 percent are Black and 19 percent are Latino.
The IRS has broken down by zip code the number of non-filers who received a letter letter. In Louisville, Shively’s 40216 leads the way with 1,765 letters sent. Nearby 40211, which includes the Chickasaw and Park DuValle neighborhoods, received the second most letters, with 1,475.
These are low-income, vulnerable people who may be missing out on thousands of dollars they’re owned by the federal government.
"This money could mean that they are able to pay their rent or get caught up on their car loans so that they don’t lose a car or lose their home,” Maraman said. “This is vitally important especially to this population, where a few hundred dollars could really make a difference.”
If you believe you might be owned an EIP, you can enter your information in the IRS’s non-filer payment tool here.