Advocacy Team
ALERT: New Filing Deadline TOMORROW for Beneficiaries with Children
Dear Access Living friends and allies,
It was announced that Social Security (including SSDI and SSI), Veterans Administration, and Railroad Retirement beneficiaries who have children and wish to claim the economic stimulus check of $500 per child MUST FILE A CLAIM by 11 A.M. CST TOMORROW, APRIL 22, 2020. The link to file is here. You may read the federal update at this link.
Yep. You read that right. The federal government gave impacted persons less than 48 hours’ notice.
According to the Administration Community Living, SSA retirement, SSA survivor, SSDI, and RRB beneficiaries must submit this information by 12 p.m. EST (11 a.m. CST) on Wednesday, April 22. For those who miss the April 22 deadline, their automatic payment will be $1,200 and, by law, the additional $500 per eligible child would be paid in association with a return filed for tax year 2020. (SSI and VA beneficiaries have some additional time but should enter this information as soon as possible.)
The time zone issue for the deadline can be confusing, so 12 p.m. Eastern Time means:
- 11 am Central Time
- 10 am Mountain Time
- 9 am Pacific Time
Disability advocates are right now working to ask the government to extend this deadline. It is an unfair and undue burden on parents and grandparents with disabilities. Additionally, there have been complaints that the filing tool is inaccessible for screen readers. Clearly, there was not much consideration given to the fact that outreach to many people with disabilities takes time. In the meantime, please share this information with anyone who may need it.