Coronavirus: Wednesday deadline looms for $500-per-child stimulus check

The deadline is drawing closer for people to use the online tool that will enable them to receive the $500 stimulus payment for each dependent child, the Internal Revenue Service said Monday.

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People receiving Social Security benefits -- survivor or disability -- and Railroad Retirement benefits have until noon Wednesday to file, the IRS said in a news release.

Those who do not register their children for the Economic Impact Payment with the non-filer tool, located at irs.gov, will still get their payments of $1,200 per individual. However, people who miss the deadline will have to wait until next year to get the additional $500 per dependent child under 17, the IRS said.

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“Their $1,200 payments will be issued soon and, in order to add the $500 per eligible child amount to these payments, the IRS needs the dependent information before the payments are issued,” the IRS said in its news release. “Otherwise, their payment at this time will be $1,200 and, by law, the additional $500 per eligible child amount would be paid in association with a return filing for tax year 2020."

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People not required to file a federal return because they earned less than $12,200 as an individual or $24,400 as a married couple during 2019 are advised to use the non-filer tool, The Washington Post reported.

The portal allows people to give the IRS their direct deposit information, which will speed up the time for receiving their stimulus money, the newspaper reported. Otherwise, they will be mailed a check.

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“We want to ‘Plus $500’ these recipients with children so they can get their maximum Economic Impact Payment of $1,200 plus $500 for each eligible child as quickly as possible,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig told Forbes. “They’ll get $1,200 automatically, but they need to act quickly and register at IRS.gov to get the extra $500 per child added to their payment. These groups don’t normally have a return filing obligation and may not realize they qualify for a larger payment.

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"We’re asking people and organizations throughout the country to share this information widely and help the IRS with the Plus $500 Push.”

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