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The Social Security Administration on Friday said it would start providing beneficiary information to the Internal Revenue Service in a move aimed at hastening delivery of stimulus checks for persons in the U.S. territories receiving Social Security.
While special rules apply to beneficiaries living in the U.S. territories, including American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Social Security Administration is making a special effort to help expedite the release of stimulus checks to its beneficiaries who don't reside on the mainland.
Governor Albert Bryan has on multiple occasions encouraged persons on Social Security to file their 2018 taxes — even if they owe no money to the government — so that the V.I. Bureau of Internal Revenue could use the information to release stimulus checks to Social Security recipients living in the territory.
“The Social Security Administration has been working with the IRS to provide the necessary information about Social Security and SSI beneficiaries in order to automate and expedite their Economic Impact Payments,” said Andrew Saul, Commissioner of Social Security. “While millions of our beneficiaries have already received their EIPs from the IRS, we continue to work hard for those beneficiaries who are awaiting their payment from the IRS.”
It is anticipated that Social Security beneficiaries in the territories could begin receiving their stimulus checks in early June, the SSA said Friday.
In general, the tax authority in each territory, not the IRS, will pay the stimulus checks to eligible residents based on information the IRS will provide to the territories, the SSA said.
Additionally, beneficiaries who have their regular monthly payments managed for them by another person, called a representative payee, will begin receiving their stimulus checks from the IRS in late May.
For additional information about payments to beneficiaries with representative payees, go here.
For the territories, people should contact their local tax authority with questions about these payments. Beneficiaries should note that the territories websites may use the term “Economic Impact Payment” or “stimulus payment.”
- American Samoa
- Guam
- Puerto Rico
- Northern Mariana Islands
- U.S. Virgin Islands
The eligibility requirements and other information about the Economic Impact Payments can be found here. In addition, continue to visit the IRS at www.irs.gov/coronavirus for the latest information.
