The Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, Francisco Parés Alicea, insisted today that negotiations continue on the plan submitted to the United States Treasury, for the distribution of the Economic Impact Payment of $ 1,200 included in the CARES Act.
“The Law obliges the United States Treasury to coordinate with the territories how to distribute the economic impact payment of $ 1,200. The Treasury has already complied with Section 2201 of the CARES Act and submitted the Plan to disburse the benefit to PR residents and we are still waiting for the approval of the Treasury. The negotiation process is active and the federal Treasury has not issued a final decision. Therefore, to say that the plan was not approved or that the process is paralyzed, is false, “said the secretary.
Parés Alicea said that talks with the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) continue.
“Today we resume the discussion, and we insist on our proposal that both Social Security beneficiaries and veterans receive the incentive directly, however, the federal agency proposed that it be the Treasury that distributes them. There is no final determination on this particular, just as there is no final determination on the plan as a whole. We continue to share information with the IRS and the Treasury and they will decide, finally, the terms that will be applicable for the disbursement of funds to residents of Puerto Rico, “stressed the head of the Treasury.
Meanwhile, the official stressed that the Treasury works on the conceptualization of the distribution by phases and on the technological infrastructure through the Unified Internal Revenue System (SURI) to implement it.
He explained that the process will be in phases that will begin with taxpayers who filed tax returns for 2019 and, later, for 2018.
“We project that the first days of implementation of the Plan, part of that first phase, would distribute approximately $ 762.3 million to approximately 463,000. Of these 463,000 there are some 182,000 who must report to us in which bank account we must deposit the corresponding $ 285.9 million. The process will be simple, I already had the opportunity to see the demo of the digital tool and I am very satisfied with the great work done by our human capital ”, he detailed.
The digital tool, which will be enabled in SURI, will not require an account. Taxpayers will have to answer, in a simple way, some basic questions in order to acquire the information of the bank account where the direct deposit will be made.
“When the federal Treasury approves the plan, we will immediately begin disbursements since we have authorization from the Fiscal Oversight Board to use $ 400 million from the secretary’s account to advance payments and then request a refund,” added the secretary.
Regarding people who do not file returns and other groups, Parés Alicea urged them to be aware of official communications from the Treasury for the next few days.
“Soon, we will shed light on the details of distribution, once agreed with the Treasury, so that the participants of the PAN, Social Security, among other sectors, can benefit through simple processes,” he concluded.
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