The Internal Revenue Service has issued an alert that the federal stimulus payment belongs to the recipient and not to a nursing home or other care facility.  The stimulus payment is intended for the recipient even if a nursing home or other care facility receives the payment.  The stimulus payment is not a resource that must be turned over to a nursing home or other care facility.

The stimulus payment does not count as income Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.  The stimulus payment does not count as a resource for 12 months for any of those programs.

Social Security representative payees are not responsible for managing the stimulus because the stimulus money belongs to the recipient.  Representative payees should talk to the recipient about the stimulus money. If the recipient wants to use the stimulus money independently, the representative payee should give the stimulus money to the recipient.  (IR 2020-21, June 16, 2020.)

The Internal Revenue Service has announced that the non-filer tool for people who to not need to file a tax return to get the federal stimulus money will be available until October 15, 2020. The non-filer tool is available to people who do not need to file a tax return because their income is under $12,200 for a single person and $24,400 for married couples. (IR 2020-111, June 3, 2020.)