The Government Accountability Office (GAO) yesterday urged the Treasury Department and IRS to update and refine their estimate of the number of people who have not yet received their coronavirus relief payments, saying that doing so "could provide greater clarity about which populations may be at risk of missing out on the payment," The Hill reported. "Without an updated estimate, Treasury, IRS, other federal agencies, and IRS’s outreach partners are limited in their ability to appropriately scale and target outreach and communication efforts to individuals who may be eligible for a payment," the GAO said in a report. Legislation enacted in March directed the Treasury and IRS to provide most Americans with a one-time payment of up to $1,200 per adult and $500 per child. The agencies have said that the vast majority of the payments have been issued, but there are still some who have not received the payment to which they are entitled. Treasury estimated in April that 30 million individuals who typically are not required to file a tax return are eligible for a payment, including 14 million who don't receive certain federal benefits. The IRS has indicated that 5.3 million people have used the IRS's web tool for non-filers to claim their payments through July 31. As a result, there could be at least 8.7 million people who are eligible for a payment but haven't gotten one, the GAO said.
