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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2020)
Changes for General Council meeting in May To provide the IRS with your bank information, visit https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to keep our membership safe, the May 2, 2020, Siletz General Council meeting will be a video presentation by the Tribal Chairman. The video will be available to review May 2-5, 2020, on the Tribal website, under the Member Only Area. Your concerns normally presented at General Council are important to Tribal Council and Tribal staff. Submit any concerns to generalcouncil@ctsi.nsn.us or mail to Tribal Council, P.O. Box 549, Siletz, OR 97380-0549. Please refer to the Tribal website at www.ctsi.nsn.us for additional information. Please remember, during this challenging time, the health and welfare of the membership is important to the Tribal Council. Dear Community member, This letter is to provide some information about the federal government’s recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities (“CARES Act”) and to alert you that you may need to take action to receive an economic impact (cash) payment. Economic Impact Payment. The recent CARES Act entitles individuals with social security numbers (SSN) to a one-time cash payment (often referred to as the “economic impact payment,” “rebate,” or “recovery rebate”). To qualify for the full $1,200 payment, an individual must earn less than $75,000 per year, or, for a married couple filing jointly, under $150,000 per year. Families with qualifying children, under the age of 17, also will receive $500 per child. Individuals who earn over $75,000 (or $150,000 for a jointly filing couple) may be entitled to a reduced cash payment or a future tax credit, depending on their level of income in 2019 and 2020. #StayHomeSaveLives #InThisTogether The IRS announced that the federal income tax filing due date is automatically extended from April 15 th to July 15 th , 2020! Any taxpayer who needs to amend a 2016 return will still need to do that before 4/15/2020 to qualify for any refund. For many individuals, the federal government will make a one-time CARES Act direct deposit, estimated in mid-April, 2020. However, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may only do so if the IRS has your bank information and has information about your income for 2018 and/or 2019. Please ensure that your address and bank information is correct on your 2018 and/or 2019 filings. Taxpayers can also defer federal income tax payments due on April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020, without penalties and interest, regardless of the amount owed. Taxpayers do not need to file any additional forms or call the IRS to qualify for this automatic federal tax filing and payment relief. If you did not file a tax return for 2018 or 2019, you may need to take action to receive the economic impact payment, even if you were not required to file a tax return. The IRS urges anyone with a tax filing obligation to file as soon as possible to receive an economic impact payment. Generally, taxpayers are encouraged to include direct deposit banking information on the tax return for fastest receipt of the economic impact payment. If you do not wish to use direct deposit, then the government will send a physical check by mail. The IRS will continue to process tax refunds! The IRS urges taxpayers who are due a refund to file as soon as possible. Most tax refunds are still being issued within 21 days. If you were not required to file a tax return in 2018 or 2019 and receive certain benefits, the IRS will use the information on the Form SSA-1099 or Form RRB-1099 to generate economic impact payments to recipients of benefits reflected in those forms. Please be aware that because the IRS would not have information regarding any dependents (qualifying children) for individuals who do not file a tax return in 2018/2019, you may still wish to file a simplified tax return to ensure you receive the full economic impact payment to which your family is entitled. The Oregon Department of Revenue tax filing deadline is automatically extended from April 15 th to July 15 th , 2020! Any interest and penalties with If you are concerned about not having access to tax professionals or local community organization in person to get help with a tax return, these economic impact payments will be available throughout the rest of 2020. respect to Oregon tax filings and payments extended by this order begin accruing on July 16, 2020. If the IRS does not have your direct deposit information, in the coming weeks, the Treasury Department plans to develop an online portal for individuals to provide their banking information to the IRS online. (see above) If you have tax questions or problems with IRS or the Oregon Department of Revenue Please contact: Legal Aid Services of Oregon Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Garnishment. The stimulus payment will not be garnished for federal tax debt. If you have concerns that your cash payment may be garnished please review the handout from the National Consumer Law Center on preventing garnishment of stimulus checks. You can view that handout at https://www.nclc.org/images/pdf/special_projects/covid- 19/IB_Garnishment_Stimulus_Checks.pdf. We recommend speaking with your attorney about other strategies to protect your cash payment, if you have concerns about this issue. 520 SW 6 th Ave. Suite 700 Portland OR. 97204 888-610-8764 tax@lasoregon.org Effect on Eligibility for SSI, Medicaid, TANF, and Housing Assistance. The economic impact payments are not taxable and will not count as income or resources for means-tested programs. In other words, receiving the payment will not affect your eligibility for SSI, SNAP, Medicaid, ACA premium credits, TANF, housing assistance, or other income-related federal programs. The economic impact payment will not count as a resource for a 12-month period. You should make plans to ensure your resources are spent down within that time. Tax Filing Deadline. The federal 2019 income tax filing deadline has been extended without penalty to July 15, 2020. This relief applies to all individual returns and is automatic. You do not need to file any additional forms or call the IRS to qualify for the extended deadline. A deadline extension also applies to your Oregon state taxes. Scams and Identity Theft. There are predatory scams and identity theft operations attempting to take advantage of the current circumstances. Do not trust calls, emails, or text messages from individuals claiming to be from the IRS, Social Security Administration, or other government agency. Do not provide information about your banking accounting or social security number over the phone, by text, or by email. If you receive a message stating that you must provide more information to receive your economic impact payment, it is a scam. More information. You may wish to go to the IRS website: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus, or for updates about your economic impact payment, you can go to: https://www.irs.gov/refunds. The enclosed flyer has more detailed information for your convenience. Best wishes, NATIVE AMERICAN PROGRAM, LEGAL AID SERVICES OF OREGON Resources • • • • • Senior Loneliness Line in Oregon – seniorlonelinessline.org or 503-200-1633 Volunteers and Donations – oregonrecovers.communityos.org; oem.donations@ state.or.us; 503-378-4479 Oregon Office of Emergency Management – oregon-coronavirus-geo.hub.arcgis.com/ Oregon Office of the Governor – govstatus.egov.com/or-covid-19 Oregon Department of Education – oregon.gov/ode/students-and-family/health- safety/Pages/COVID19.aspx From Lincoln County Emergency Services Homeless service providers and food providers, CHANCE has secured some fund- ing from CSC for motel sheltering for medically fragile homeless individuals during this pandemic. Providers working with the client should make the referrals to CHANCE at 541-791-3411 (follow prompts for location Albany, Corvallis, Lebanon, Lincoln City and Newport) or hotelvoucher@chancerecovery.org. Homeless clients should not call CHANCE directly. If they do, CHANCE will advise them to get a referral from a health care provider or homeless advocate. CSC will not take referrals from anyone for these motels — CHANCE is the point of contact. A person must meet these definitions of “homeless” and “medically fragile” for state motel funding with CHANCE. Eligibility includes: • • Client referred must be homeless, liv- ing un-sheltered (i.e. sleeping outside or in a car, but not in an RV or travel trailer). If the client is already in a local shelter, they do not qualify. Client must be “medically fragile,” defined as: • Having a chronic health condition that makes them high risk (such as heart condition, respiratory condition or unmanaged diabetes). Provider mak- ing referral must attest to the health condition. OR • Age 65 or older, with or without a chronic medical condition, without any alternative source of shelter CHANCE will check in with the cli- ent often. We will check to see if they need medical attention, mental health support, food, medication or just a check-in. If support is needed, CHANCE staff will reach out to the appropriate member of each county’s community partner support teams for the needed attention. Once the client has checked out of the hotel, CHANCE staff will notify CSC and the team members involved in the person’s care to either do a follow-up or close out the file. This is currently available for non- symptomatic medically fragile people only. A separate program has yet to be finalized for people who are presumptive or COVID 19-positive. May 2020 • Siletz News • 11
