When Will Social Security Recipients Get Third Stimulus Checks?

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has given the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the updated information required to begin delivering stimulus checks to some 30 million federal beneficiaries still awaiting payments, Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul announced on March 25.

To date, the IRS has delivered 127 million stimulus payments worth about $325 billion during the third round of relief based primarily on information included in tax returns filed in 2019 or 2020. Among those receiving payments have been some federal beneficiaries who file tax returns. However, many low-income beneficiaries — including recipients of Social Security retirement and disability benefits, as well as recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits administered by SSA — aren’t required to file tax returns. As such, the IRS said it has been waiting for updated information from SSA on bank accounts and addresses of federal beneficiaries to ensure the stimulus payments reach eligible individuals.

AARP is urging the IRS and SSA to move more swiftly to get those checks to individuals who don’t file federal income taxes.

“We urge you to provide clear information on the IRS and other federal agency websites about when exactly these groups should expect their payments. Older Americans are counting on these payments to make ends meet. We urge you to prioritize these federal beneficiaries in both your payment distribution and communications efforts moving forward,” Bill Sweeney, AARP’s senior vice president of government affairs, wrote in a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig on March 25. A similar letter from AARP went to Saul on the same day.

The updated information from SSA should help ensure that direct deposits go to correct bank accounts, and paper checks and debit cards go to correct mailing addresses. The updated information for 2021 should also reduce the number of payments sent…