Congresswoman Elaine Luria (D-VA-02) joined a bipartisan letter to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig, raising concerns about misclassification of recipients’ eligibility for Economic Impact Payments (EIPs), the lack of transparency and clarity on unresolved EIP cases, and an update on how IRS is working to address concerns raised in a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.
“The Economic Impact Payments authorized by the CARES Act have been an important lifeline for so many Coastal Virginian families during the economic turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Luria. “It is critical that IRS ensure that all outstanding EIPs are delivered to Americans as soon as possible.”
The letter, signed by 49 bipartisan members of the House of Representatives, asked Commissioner Rettig to answer the following questions:
- What documentation does the IRS use to determine a taxpayer’s dependency status?
- What documentation would the IRS accept to overturn such a determination?
- What proactive protocols are in place to protect Americans from being fraudulently claimed as dependents?
- Why is the IRS claiming payments cannot be processed even when presented with clear evidence that they improperly disqualified someone from receiving an EIP?
Click here to read the letter.