The American Rescue Plan is an expansive piece of legislation seeking to aid families during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond with the aims of providing financial assistance to families and potentially cutting child poverty in half by 2025. These payments take the form of stimulus payments and tax credits for families with children—even if those families have no earnings. Many advocates, including those at Disability Rights Pennsylvania, are concerned that families will miss out on these needed resources because families may not normally file taxes qualifying them for the funds. We know that the last year has been a difficult time, but it has particularly made the already vulnerable more vulnerable. We want to make sure you have access to all of the financial resources entitled to you and your family during this time. Here are things you need to know about why you should file for a stimulus payment as soon as possible from our partners at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia: - You might not have gotten all of the money you and your family are owed: If you don’t have earnings from work or you get disability benefits, you can get your full stimulus payments by filing taxes now.
- If you did not qualify for a stimulus payment before, you might qualify for one now: The rules about who can get stimulus payments keep changing. File taxes to see if you are owed money, and to make it easier to get money in the future.
- You may be eligible for another payment: If you have children living with you as of 2020, you might get another payment later in 2021. You can qualify for this money by filing your 2020 taxes.
- The deadline to file is May 17, 2021.
You can receive free assistance to file: - If you make less than $72,000 a year, you can file your taxes for free using the IRS free filer tool at tinyurl.com/IRSfreefiling.
- Free tax help is available. Use this link to find a free tax site near you at tinyurl.com/IRStaxprep.
- If you are aged 50 or over, use this AARP tool to find free tax help near you at tinyurl.com/AARP-free-tax-tool.
- People in the Philadelphia area can get free help at Campaign for Working Families. Schedule an appointment or file virtually at cwfphilly.org/resources/ or call (215) 454-6483.
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