Social Security sends beneficiary info to IRS for stimulus payments

The Social Security Administration transmitted the necessary information Thursday to the Internal Revenue Service so it can begin sending Economic Impact Payments to nearly 30 million beneficiaries after an ultimatum from Congress.

On Wednesday afternoon, a group of Democrats on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee had complained about the slowdown in sending payments to retirees and others who depend on benefits in a letter to SSA Commissioner Andrew Saul, giving him 24 hours to send the information. On Monday, several Democratic leaders on the committee had written to the IRS Commissioner and the SSA about the delays in payments to Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Railroad Retirement Board, and Veterans Affairs beneficiaries (see story). The IRS informed them that the problem was that the SSA hadn’t sent over the information.

“We are aware that the IRS asked SSA to start sending payment files two weeks before the American Rescue Plan became law on March 11, 2021,” wrote Ways and Means Committee chairman, Richard Neal, D-Massachusetts, Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Bill Pascrell, Jr. D-New Jersey, and Worker and Family Support Subcommittee Chairman Danny K. Davis, D-Illinois. “As of today, SSA still has not provided the IRS with the payment files that are needed to issue EIPs to these struggling Americans. We demand that you immediately provide the IRS with this information by tomorrow, March 25, 2021.”

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Solomon responded within the 24-hour allotment, and the lawmakers applauded the move. “The Social Security Administration has notified us that at 8:48 this morning, the agency has transmitted the necessary payment files to the IRS that have been blocking the sending of stimulus payments to nearly 30,000,000 Americans,” said Neal, Pascrell, Davis and Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John B. Larson, D-Connecticut, in a joint statement Thursday. “We are gratified that the SSA leadership finally recognized the urgency of the moment and acted swiftly on our ultimatum. None of this would be possible without the hard work of SSA’s dedicated public servants and leadership from the White House. The landmark American Rescue Plan was enacted by Congress and signed by President Biden to provide relief to Americans struggling to survive the pandemic. The delays imposed by Commissioner Saul defied congressional intent and imposed needless anxiety and pain on taxpayers. Now the IRS needs to do its job and get these overdue payments out to suffering Americans. Further delays will not be tolerated by this Committee.”

Saul and his deputy administrator have come under fire from some Democrats as a holdover from the Trump administration who has been undermining Social Security benefits. “As agents of the Trump Social Security agenda, they cut the benefits that hardworking Americans have earned, attacked the Social Security Administration’s employees, denied beneficiaries due process, and needlessly increased disability reviews during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in a statement last week. “No one has been safe from their path of destruction.”

The employee union at the Social Security Administration is also upset at Saul for ending a popular telework program during the pandemic, failing to communicate to the union about return-to-work plans, and denying leave for employees during a hurricane last fall.

The IRS has been prompt about sending out millions of stimulus payments since President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law this month. According to the latest report from the IRS, approximately 127 million stimulus payments worth about $325 billion have gone out (see story). Many of the initial payments were transmitted by direct deposit last week based on taxpayers’ previous tax filings, and the IRS began mailing out a second batch of payments via check and debit card. But the IRS has lacked information on many retirees and beneficiaries of social safety net programs like disability insurance who often earn so little money that they don’t file a tax return. Last year, it set up a non-filers tool on IRS.gov where people could enter such information, but so far it hasn't been revived this year.