Economic Support During COVID-19: An Update

Extended Call Center Hours at UIA

The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) is extending call hours and staff to support the increased number of customers filing unemployment claims as a result of COVID-19. The UIA has extended call center hours by an hour every day 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and it remains open from 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Call Center number: 866-500-0017

The best way to file a claim is online at www.Michigan.gov/UIA, where the process takes on average 20-25 minutes.

Social Security Recipients

The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) announced on April 1 that Social Security beneficiaries who are not typically required to file tax returns will not need to file an abbreviated tax return to receive an economic impact payment (direct payment from the federal government).

The IRS will use the information on the Form SSA-1099 to provide the $1,200 economic impact payments to Social Security beneficiaries who did not file tax returns in 2018 or 2019.

Treasury, not Social Security, will make automatic payments to Social Security beneficiaries. Beneficiaries will receive these payments by direct deposit or by paper check, just as they would normally receive their Social Security benefits.

Update: 4/13/20

New Guidance for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Beneficiaries

If you have qualifying children under the age of 17:

“To receive the full amount of the Economic Impact Payments you and your family are eligible for, go to the IRS’s Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info page at www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payments and provide information about yourself and your qualifying children.”

Taking this proactive step will ensure you get the $500 payment per dependent child at the same time as your $1,200 payment.

“Additionally, any new beneficiaries since January 1, 2020, of either Social Security or SSI benefits, who did not file a tax return for 2018 or 2019, will also need to go to the IRS’s Non-Filers website to enter their information.”

DO NOT GIVE OUT YOUR FINANCIAL INFORMATION OVER THE PHONE. Neither Social Security nor the IRS will be calling for such private information.

Sources:

https://www.michigan.gov/leo/0,5863,7-336-78421_97241_90031-524762–,00.html

www.socialsecurity.gov/coronavirus/