One million US taxpayers to get pandemic-era stimulus checks worth up to $1,400 | american news

US tax officials have announced special payments of $1,400 to 1 million taxpayers who did not claim under the 2021 recovery rebate scheme, in what may be a final installment of stimulus checks from the pandemic.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said in an advisory that the payments were a “special step” after a review found that many eligible taxpayers who did not receive one or more Economic Impact Payments (EIP), also known as stimulus “stimuli” payments.

There were three rounds of EIP payments to U.S. citizens during the pandemic, totaling $4,500, which amounted to approximately $931 billion between April 2020 and December 2021, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

The estimated amount of payouts will be around $2.4 billion.

The Corona Aid, Relief and Economic Security (Cares) Act of 2020 provided the largest amount, $1.8 billion, to combat both the health care and subsequent economic fallout of the pandemic.

But more trillions were spent through other government programs and Treasury Department efforts.

The IRS said in a statement that no action was needed for eligible taxpayers to receive these payments, and the payments would arrive this month or in late January and be made by direct deposit or check.

“The IRS continues to work hard to make improvements and help taxpayers,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement. “These payments are an example of our commitment to going the extra mile for taxpayers.”

The late stocking payouts to about 1 million Americans come as federal authorities continue to trace billions of dollars in Covid-19 aid that may have been obtained fraudulently.

ONE report from the Ministry of Justice‘s Covid-19 fraud Enforcement Taskforce (CFETF) said in April that criminal charges had been brought against more than 3,500 defendants for losses of more than $2 billion. and more than $1.4 billion. seized or lost.

“Our work is not over,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “We will continue our efforts to investigate and prosecute pandemic relief fraud and to recover the assets that have been stolen from American taxpayers.”

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco called for an extension of the statute of limitations “for prosecutors to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud proceeds, bring remaining offenders to justice and disrupt criminal networks that continue to victimize our citizens.”