This past week, we discussed how implementation is often the hardest part of public policy. Passing a bill is just one small step toward getting help to people, and the path sometimes comes to a dead end.
The CARES Act included a provision meant to provide relief to companies by allowing them to get tax refunds by redoing their previous year’s taxes to include their current losses. There's one glaring problem: The companies are required to file for those refunds on paper and mail them in — and most IRS employees are working from home. There's virtually no one there to pick up the mail.
There's also plenty of other guidance pending from the IRS, a typical problem in typical times but one sure to slow the impact of the CARES Act as companies struggle to survive.
Meanwhile, the IRS is still figuring out how to quickly parcel out the cash payments the new law promised to individuals and families across the country. The agency intends to deliver as many as possible via direct deposit, which would expedite those payments. But for many low-income Americans who don't file tax returns, the IRS would likely not have direct deposit info. So the agency is setting up a website to collect banking information in order to more quickly process the checks, but there’s no timeline on when that will be up and running.If you have any interest in the government response to coronavirus, click the link and read the whole article, which is both illuminating and depressing.
But to those who have studied implementation or worked on government programs, none of this trouble is the least bit surprising.
Anyway, it is a great senior thesis topic if you are in the market for one next year.
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