Thousands in Hamilton County still have not claimed stimulus money

Hamilton County is among the nation’s top 200 counties for its number of unclaimed economic stimulus checks, according to a report released this week.

Nationwide, about 5 million low-income seniors, disabled veterans and others with disabilities who may not be required to fill out a tax return still are eligible for stimulus checks, according to the IRS.

“It’s not that they don’t need the money. These are low-income people,” said Donna Cohen Ross, director of outreach for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which compiled the report. “People may not realize that they’re eligible, and they may not be used to filing a tax return, and they need to know it’s not too late.”

More than 6,830 Hamilton County residents have not claimed their stimulus checks, leaving about $2 million on the table, said Dan Boone, IRS spokesman. About 1,768 people in Bradley County have not claimed payments totaling about $530,000, he said.

In Georgia, 1,957 residents of Whitfield County have not filed, leaving about $587,000 unclaimed, the report said. It is the only North Georgia county in the top 20 for unclaimed checks.

Many, but not all, taxpayers qualify for the maximum basic payment of $600 for singles or $1,200 for married couples, the IRS states. The total of about 123,000 unclaimed payments across Tennessee equals about $36.9 million, according to the report.

“This is free money,” Mr. Boone said.

Anyone who earned at least $3,000 in 2007 in earned income or unearned income such as Social Security or veterans’ disability is eligible for the stimulus package, IRS officials said.

Eligible residents may file for their $300 stimulus payments as late as Oct. 15 and still get their money this year, she said. They also may file for their payment when they file their 2008 tax returns, officials said.

Memphis’ Shelby, Nashville’s Davidson and Knoxville’s Knox counties also are listed among the top 200 counties with unclaimed payments.

With the cost of energy, food and other expenses on the rise, the economic stimulus payments are critical to some households, Ms. Ross said.

Ann Williams Pierre, manager of Church Koinonia Federal Credit Union, said she has been doing radio announcements, sending e-mails, sending announcements to churches and distributing the information on fliers to make sure as many people as possible understand that they may qualify to receive the stimulus package.

“Three hundred dollars is a lot of money, especially to people getting the minimum amount of Social Security,” she said. “It could be 30 percent to 50 percent of their monthly income.”

Ms. Pierre said she has assisted more than two dozen people who had to be persuaded to apply for their economic stimulus checks.

“Some of them were afraid because they thought the government would get in their business,” Ms. Pierre said.

Others were concerned because they were not in the habit of filing.

There are other reasons why people have yet to file for their stimulus package, Mr. Boone said. One misconception is that it’s too late to file, because the April 15 tax deadline has come and gone. But as long as they file by Oct. 15, they should be able to receive a stimulus payment this year, he said.

Other elderly residents worry that, if they file a return to get their stimulus money, they will be required to file a return every year after that, but that isn’t true either, Mr. Boone said.

Nor is it true that the economic stimulus would affect other federal benefits, he said.

“It reduces no current benefits at all,” Mr. Boone said.