By Dylan Moroses

Law360 (April 22, 2020, 5:35 PM EDT) -- Senior Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee asked Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to explain why coronavirus economic relief payments have been delayed or in some cases returned to the government, in a letter released Wednesday.

Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and John Lewis, D-Ga., pressed Mnuchin for details after Treasury announced nearly $1 billion of the economic impact payments couldn't be distributed. Thompson chairs the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenues, while Lewis is chair of the panel's oversight subcommittee.

"Given the ongoing economic and health crisis, it is imperative that Americans eligible to receive stimulus payments are provided such funds as swiftly as possible," the lawmakers said.

The two Democrats cited recent reports and constituent concerns that payments may have been rerouted to banks instead of taxpayers for those who may have received an advance on their tax refunds through third-party preparation services. The rerouting either delayed the payments' distribution or in some cases resulted in their being returned back to Treasury, the letter said.

The lawmakers asked Mnuchin to provide information on the amount of stimulus payments that have been doled out, how much has been returned to Treasury, the reasons why those payments were returned and how those transactions were communicated to the intended recipients of the payments.

Treasury didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other House Democratic lawmakers also asked Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig about a Wednesday deadline for stimulus payment recipients who don't file federal returns to alert the IRS about their eligibility for an additional $500 in coronavirus payments for qualifying children. They asked Treasury to reconsider the deadline and extend the time nonfilers have to inform the Internal Revenue Service about their qualifying dependents.

The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee also asked Mnuchin this week about the supposed delay of other economic relief payments. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., questioned Mnuchin Tuesday about the decision to include President Donald Trump's name on coronavirus economic relief checks and sought answers on whether it would delay their distribution.

The stimulus payments were authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act  that Trump signed into law in March. The legislation directs the IRS to send $1,200 to individual taxpayers and $2,400 to couples filing joint tax returns. The payments are reduced for those with incomes above $75,000 or $150,000 for couples. They are eliminated for people with incomes of more than $99,000 and $198,000 for couples.

The law also includes additional tax measures to help businesses navigate the economic consequences of the coronavirus outbreak, such as an increase on the limit for business interest deductions, an employer-based worker retention tax credit and changes to the tax treatment of business losses.

Economic impact payments are being directly deposited into the accounts of people whose banking information is on file with the IRS. Otherwise, the agency will send paper checks.

The payments will be automatically disbursed for several groups of people who typically haven't filed tax returns with the IRS, including those who receive Supplemental Security Income, military veteran benefits and Social Security benefits, Mnuchin has said.

--Additional reporting by Theresa Schliep. Editing by Vincent Sherry. 

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