U.S. Senators David Perdue (R-GA) and Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), and 20 of their Senate colleagues, penned a letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and U.S. Department of Treasury calling on the agencies to automatically qualify seniors for $1,200 payments included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The Senators took this action following initial reports that the IRS would require seniors to file tax returns in order to receive direct cash assistance.

“We respectfully request that you work to ensure that seniors who normally do not file taxes have the ability to receive Economic Impact Payments automatically,” wrote the Senators. “At a time of great danger and stress for our seniors, we fear that requiring them to submit paperwork will exacerbate the challenges they face and create confusion, especially since they do not have access to tools that would normally be at their disposal, such as Tax Counseling for the Elderly.”

Following the Senators’ letter, Treasury clarified that Social Security retirement and disability recipients will not need to file an abbreviated tax return, and the cash payments will be automatically deposited into their bank accounts.