Don't Mess With Taxes

Earlier this month, the Internal Revenue Service implemented a push to encourage folks who didn't get COVID-19 economic relief payments to touch base with the tax agency to see if they're due any of this money.

Overall, nearly 9 million individuals, or 8,863,344 to be exact, might be eligible for the stimulus help. That's a maximum of $1,200 per person, double that for married couples filing joint tax returns, plus $500 for each qualifying child.

Millions of these economic impact payments, or EIPs, were sent automatically to qualifying individuals who had filed tax returns for the 2018 or 2019 tax years. It went to the address on file with the IRS.

But millions of other cases, the IRS didn't distribute the money because these folks didn't have to file tax returns.

These individuals could be eligible for the coronavirus EIP, but they need to let the IRS know their tax details by entering that information into the agency's special online free Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info tool.

And to get any EIP cash for which they qualify by year's end, they need to do that by Oct. 15.

Missing money in every state: The IRS sent these folks letters encouraging them to act soon. If they don't, they'll have to wait until next year for the EIP money.

The IRS broke out the number of individuals who possibly could get COVID-19 economic relief payments by state and then further by ZIP Codes.

Here in Texas, there are 796,525 individuals who need to take coronavirus stimulus action as soon as possible or leave that money in IRS hands for at least three more months.

The Lone Star State isn't home to the most folks who are letting their COVID-19 stimulus money languish. That dubious honor goes to California, where 1,186,896 IRS EIP letters were sent.

Zooming in on ZIP Codes: Since I'm a tax geek and the pandemic and my personal health issues have locked me down for the duration, I have plenty of time. So I also perused the EIP ZIP Code counts this weekend.

Yeah, I know. You wish you had my life!

Of course, the first thing I did was check out my current Austin, Texas, ZIP Code. I have 216 neighbors who are possibly missing out on an EIP.

Then I naturally checked all the ZIP Codes of where the hubby and I used to live. In the postal delivery area of our first shared apartment in Lubbock, Texas, there are 806 EIP non-filers.

In our Washington, D.C. Capitol Hill basement apartment's ZIP Code, there are 1,168 possibly missing out on COVID-19 cash. Our next D.C.-area home, our condo in Maryland, is home to 909 EIP non-filers, while our first single family residence down the Maryland suburb road has another 1,441.

In Florida, the townhouse we rented upon moving to Palm Beach County has 285 missing EIP individuals. The house we bought a few miles down the Atlantic Coast highway has 720 such non-filers.

I couldn't end my personal EIP perusal there.

A good friend still living in Northwest D.C. has 311 neighbors possibly missing the relief. My relatives also live in places where checks might be due: less than 200 in a Florida Treasure Coast community; 707 in the Reno, Nevada, area; 805 in Coppell, Texas; 1,205 in Rome, Georgia; and 925 in Santa Monica, California.

Once I got to Southern California, I couldn't resist a look at the most famous television ZIP Code. There are 805 possible EIP nonfilers in Beverly Hills 90210.

Bunches of EIP non-filers: The weekend life of a tax blogger doesn't end there, though. I did go beyond personal connections in exploring the EIP non-filer ZIP Codes. (Still jealous?)

As you can imagine, the IRS data covers a lot of numbers, both in postal codes and possible coronavirus payment recipients. To avoid getting too unwieldy, I narrowed my examination to those ZIP Codes where more than 4,000 folks might be due the coronavirus relief money.

There are 12 of those. And the leader here is on the East Coast, specially the Empire State.

New York has six ZIP Codes with more than 4,000 people who need to check their EIP eligibility at the IRS website. They are:

4,879 individuals in ZIP Code 10029
4,966 individuals in ZIP Code 10456
4,585 individuals in ZIP Code 11207
4,555 individuals in ZIP Code 11212
4,163 individuals in ZIP Code 11221
4,365 individuals in ZIP Code 11226

I could go with 6, as in the total number of New York ZIP Codes exceeding 4,000 individuals who need to use the IRS Non-Filer tool, as this weekend's By the Numbers figure. But I'm choosing ZIP Code 10456 and its 4,966 residents, the largest single code count, as dual BtN honorees.

To save you Googling time, that's in the Bronx.

MapsZipCode.com

The other six ZIP Codes full of folks — that is, more than 4,000 — who haven't looked into getting their EIPs are in just three jurisdictions:

• California's 90011 has 4,162 potential EIP recipients; 90044 includes 4,366 people; and 92231 has 4,025 such individuals.
• Washington, D.C.'s 20019 has 4,158 residents, with another 4,547 unclaimed stimulus amounts in 20020; and
• Georgia's 30349 is home to 4,030 individuals who might be due an EIP.

Register now, regardless of where you live: If you're in these 12 ZIP Codes or anywhere across the United States and didn't file a tax return or use the IRS Non-Filer tool, do so now.

It's no guarantee that you'll get an EIP this year. Other factors come into play in determining whether a person is due any stimulus money and if so, exactly how much.

But you'll never know if you're due some COVID-19 relief unless you apply for the money.

Blast from the postal past: Speaking of the U.S. Postal Service, my tumblr blog, Tumbling Taxes, has a vintage video of the Washington, D.C., facility after it got a major mechanical upgrade in 1959. 

You also might find these items of interest:

• Tax injured spouses to get catch-up COVID-19 payments
• COVID-created tax refund interest payments going to nearly 14 million filers
• Get government benefits? Have kids? You have until Sept. 30 to claim added COVID cash

Advertisements

🌟 Search Amazon Business and Money Books 🌟
The text link above is an affiliate ad. If you click through and then buy a product, I receive a commission.