The Internal Revenue Service Communications and Liaison Division is working with OLA to share some important messaging about the stimulus payments. The main message they are focused on right now is about the stimulus payments to ensure everyone who is entitled gets a payment. Although most Americans will automatically receive their Economic Impact payments, there are some folks who will need to take a specific action to get the payment. One of the popular misconceptions is that people who do not work or have any other sources of income are ineligible, and that is simply not the case.
For many of our members this information might be helpful to share with the customers. The main area of interest is especially for people who have little or no income and didn’t file a tax return or don’t receive any federal benefits such as Social Security or SSI, they are also eligible for an Economic Impact Payment. They need to register with the Non-Filer tool on IRS.gov as soon as possible so they can receive a payment. They are encouraging them to register before Thursday, October 15, 2020 so they can receive the payment before the end of the year.
On occasion, the IRS might also have other messages that would benefit some of the unbanked and underbanked. Examples include the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Free File program, which allows those with income less than $69,000 to file online at no cost. We also share messaging on how to avoid becoming a victim of a tax scam. Although, there is an increase in tax scams between the months of February through April, the fact is fraudsters do not take a break after tax season and these scams cost taxpayers millions of dollars each year.
Many of our messages could also be useful to the businesses themselves (i.e. three new Employer Credits recently passed in relation to the pandemic, including the Employee Retention Credit and the credits for Sick and Family Leave).
Ways to Help
The IRS has a variety of social media messages and images you can easily integrate into your communications with customers. Their Partner Toolkit, Economic Impact Payments: Partner and Promotional Materials, contains resources you could easily incorporate into your messaging channels.
