ATLANTA – Georgia’s two U.S. senators are urging the Internal Revenue Service to fix persistent problems that are causing delays in the distribution of the economic stimulus checks Congress authorized last March.
“We are continuing to hear from eligible constituents who have not received their payments due to what appears to be glitches in the Internal Revenue Service’s processes,” Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loefller wrote in a letter this week to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Charles Retting.
“We urge you to take steps to continue to improve your online tool to ensure that eligible individuals can promptly receive their payments or create additional outlets for them to receive information on the status of their payments.”
Perdue and Loeffler cited instances where constituents used the “Get my Payment” tool online and were told they were eligible and that the IRS had their direct deposit information. But the payments have not come.
In other cases, the IRS informed constituents they needed to send their direct deposition information in order to receive payment. But when they tried to use the “Need More Information” tool online, they received an error message saying they were not recognized on the website.
The senators also blamed delayed payments on a huge backlog that began piling up when some IRS offices closed or started operating in a telework setting.
“We also implore you to make use of the IRS Office of the Taxpayer Advocate in addressing concerns with Economic Impact Payments to help alleviate the backlog, since the office is not currently being utilized for this purpose,” the senators wrote.
Perdue and Loeffler also asked for a briefing on the progress the IRS is making toward reducing the backlog of inquiries from Americans who have not received stimulus checks.