Last week, the Treasury Department and the IRS announced that social security beneficiaries will not need to file a “simple” return to receive an economic impact payment and that the payment will be automatic.

Previously, the IRS had stated that people who did not file a 2018 or 2019 federal income tax return, including individuals who typically are not required to file a return, would need to submit a “simple” tax return to receive the stimulus payment.

The Treasury Department’s most recent press release states that social security beneficiaries who are not typically required to file tax returns will not need to file a “simple” tax return to receive an economic impact payment. Instead the payments will be automatically deposited into their bank accounts.

According to the press release, the IRS will use the information on Form SSA-1099 to distribute $1,200 economic impact payments to Social Security recipients who did not file tax returns in 2018 or 2019. Recipients will receive these payments as a direct deposit or by paper check, just as they would normally receive their benefits.