Nearly 1,000 Douglas County residents are eligible for federal economic stimulus payments but have not yet filed tax returns to confirm their eligibility, the IRS says.

And the agency wants them to get their payments, just as 94.8 million other Americans have done so far this year.

“We want to send out more,” said Michael Devine, an IRS spokesman for Kansas and Missouri. “We want to give away money. It’s an unusual position for the IRS to give away money. You just need to file a tax return to get it.”

In all, the IRS figures there are about 960 taxpayers living in Douglas County who have yet to alert the agency, through the filing of a tax return, about their eligibility for federal economic stimulus payments.

Virtually all of the people who have not yet filed the necessary paperwork to get their payments are recipients of Social Security benefits who normally would not be required to file a tax return. Others are certain military veterans who, likewise, normally would not need to file returns.

For those people, filing a tax return, even now, is a relatively simple process, Devine said. Just go online to www.irs.gov and follow the links to the Free File program, which allows qualifying people – those who earn less than $50,000 a year – to file their returns for free using the Internet.

Those who go through the process and are owed a stimulus payment soon could be receiving a payment of $300 to $600, Devine said.

“Fill out a 1040-A, with very limited information, and they can send it in,” Devine said. “As long as they have at least $3,000 in qualifying income, they will get a stimulus payment.”