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Stimulus payments continue roll out

COVID-19 stimulus checks are automatic for people who receive Social Security retirement, survivor or disability, and Supplemental Security Income. People who receive Railroad Retirement benefits and Veterans Affairs beneficiaries who didn’t file a tax return in the last two years will also get automatic payments. Social Security recipients may have started seeing payments by April 29, according to the IRS.

SSI and Veterans Affairs benefit recipients who don’t file a tax return and have dependent children need to act by May 5 to claim the $500-per-child stimulus payment; otherwise, they can claim when they file their 2020 taxes.

On April 24, the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS reported that 88.1 million payments worth nearly $158 billion had been issued in the program’s first three weeks, out of an estimated 150 million total. The first wave of payments included individuals and couples who had filed either a 2018 or 2019 federal return and received a refund.

People eligible for the stimulus payment who are not required to file a tax return and don’t plan to file for 2019 should use the “non-filers” tool at irs.gov.

Wondering why you haven’t been paid yet? Go to irs.gov and click on “Get My Payment” for more information. You may need to put in your bank account information — especially if you owed money in 2018 or 2019, rather than having a refund direct-deposited — which will

require information from your last tax filing including gross revenue for the year and amount owed or refunded from the federal government.