The IRS Has Been Sending Stimulus Checks to Dead People

In what appears to be another misstep, the Internal Revenue Service has been sending out stimulus checks to deceased individuals.

The Treasury Department has been sending out the checks based on tax returns filed for either 2018 or 2019, but some of the qualifying individuals based on those records have since died. On May 6, the IRS issued new guidance on what should be done with those payments.

In a Q&A section on its website, the IRS states that someone who died before receipt of the payment doesn’t qualify for the payment. The payment must be returned unless the payment was made to joint filers and one spouse is still alive before receipt of the payment, in which event, only the portion of the payment made on account of the decedent needs to be returned. 

According to the IRS website, to return a stimulus payment, an individual must write "Void" in the endorsement section on the back of the check and mail it immediately to the appropriate IRS location and include a note stating the reason for returning the check. 

If the check was already cashed, you must “submit a personal check, money order, etc., immediately to the appropriate IRS location” payable to “U.S. Treasury” and write 2020EIP, along with “the taxpayer identification number (Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number) of the recipient of the check,” as well as include a brief explanation of the reason for returning the payment.

Further details, including the state-specific IRS mailing addresses to return the check to, are available on the IRS website.