Commissioner Statement on Economic Impact Payments
Reading Time: 3 MinutesLast Updated: March 25, 2021
I want to provide an important update about the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) processing of Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act.
At each turn over the last 12 months, immediate delivery of EIPs has been, and remains, a top priority for this agency. SSA’s public service mission is squarely focused on many of those who are most economically-vulnerable in our society and we owe it to our beneficiaries to ensure they receive their EIPs right away. In fact, it was the substantial efforts of SSA that successfully overcame the fact that the IRS did not have a mechanism to automatically identify Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, some of the most financially insecure people in America. It was SSA that pushed the prior Administration and Congress to allow us to send to IRS a file of those individuals, who do not receive forms SSA-1099, so that IRS could automatically issue EIPs to them.
Since the time that discussions began regarding issuance of EIPs in the ARP Act, weeks before passage, we have worked tirelessly with our counterparts at IRS to provide to them the information they need to issue payments to our beneficiaries. Despite the fact that Congress did not directly provide SSA funding to support our work on EIPs, we have provided countless hours of assistance to IRS consistent with the laws that establish how we may use the Trust Funds that every American counts on us to protect.
SSA discussed with Treasury and IRS, both before passage and after enactment of the ARP Act, that the Social Security Act does not allow the agency to use our administrative appropriation to conduct work on any non-mission provision or program. Accordingly, we were not authorized to substantively engage Treasury or IRS prior to the ARP’s passage. Instead, upon passage, we were required to pursue a reimbursable agreement with IRS because we received no direct appropriation through the ARP Act. From the outset of discussions, we kept congressional staff apprised of the hurdles this approach would create for SSA, and we have continued to update them on our progress with IRS as we completed the required interagency agreements.
Once we were free to move forward, we aggressively worked with Treasury and IRS to issue payments. As a result of our efforts, we successfully signed the reimbursable agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) less than one week after passage, on March 17. That process often takes weeks or months to complete, but we got the job done in a matter of days. A few days later, on Monday, March 22, SSA sent initial test files to IRS. IRS confirmed testing success on Wednesday, March 24. Production files were delivered to IRS before 9 AM on Thursday, March 25 – more than a week sooner than we were able to provide a similar file to IRS during the first round of EIPs.
While we were working through the agreements with IRS that would fund our efforts to support issuance of EIPs, we were also protecting the integrity of the EIP program by updating the files that IRS will use to issue payments to our beneficiaries. Those updates to our files ensure that payments go to correct bank accounts and addresses, and, that those who are deceased are removed from the files. In short, Social Security employees have literally worked day and night with IRS staff to ensure that the electronic files of Social Security and SSI recipients are complete, accurate, and ready to be used to issue payments. There is no one more committed to serving the public than the employees of this agency, and there should be no doubt whatsoever that they are striving each day to serve the vulnerable populations to whom they have committed their careers. I find any insinuation to the contrary to be unacceptable.
I assure you that we will continue to do all we can to support implementation of the ARP Act.
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Tags: American Rescue Plan, Commissioner, Economic Impact Payments, social security, SSI
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Andrew Saul, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
Commissioner of Social Security Administration (June 17, 2019 - July 9, 2021)
Comments
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Cynthia
So what day are we getting our checks
JB
Is it weird that zero comments have been published regarding this statement? Because a lot of people on social media are expressing quite strong opinions regarding your statements. Thanks.
porfirio c.
I heard ten days from the twenty fifth is that correct
harold d.
Still a bunch of bureaucratic bullshit..got the second round immediately,,so why is the third suddenly different???. My dynamic hasn’t changed for 20 years…and STILL no date yet
Fahmi N.
The interface between IRS and Social Security is clearly a welcome and a long overdue step.
The IRS tracking tool I checked today, in tracing my 3rd EIP, whereby it stated a bank account number that I don’t recognize. Is my EIP going to the same route of my monthly Soc. Sec. benefits, and being deposited in same account? Well, so far it did not materialize. It was scheduled on the 24th of March. Please provide more clarification on this subject. Thank you
William. N.
yall just didn’t like the truth is why yall want let my previous comment post
Osiris L.
Osiris Hernandez
Thank you for this new information, nevertheless I could not see anything about those who live-in foreign countries and gets there SS check through a direct deposit.
I already filled and application
But haven’t receive any of the
Economic Impact Payment.
Could you please let me know
When would I receive it?
I’m leaving in Panama country in Central America.
Starving E.
Stall tactics for extra funding at the expense of the people you claim to serve, you owe it to our beneficiaries to resign.
Deanna L.
I am on SSI disability and that barely cover’s my rent. I got cancer when I was 15 yrs old. They had to remove most of my chest wall, right lung and right arm and I received another 2 more cancers on top of that. At the age of 22 yrs old I was on disability. Hardly having any work history I’m considered to receive the lowest income bracket from our government. More or less I have to fight to survive with my cancer but I also have to fight to survive through lowest SSI income bracket for getting cancer at at such a young age. I have not received any stimulus checks what so ever.
I’m now 50 yrs old and still on SSI but I am a survivor.
Robin S.
WHY, does one agency blame the other every time something goes wrong! And STILL no date when we might see our 3rd stimulus payment. The TOOL provided is useless, providing you with a generic outcome, and no clear explanation. Really appalling!
James V.
Based on YOUR words in this update, I have one question …. how do precisely process the second economic payment into the same accounts in less than 96 hours. Why precisely are you comparing your performance against the first economic payment – which we all accept was a critical and difficult undertaking at the time. It seems interesting that you use the excuse of not being to use your systems to process the 3rd economic stimulus data to a form similar to the 2nd in Dec 2020.