Second Round Of Direct Payments: December 2020
The second round of aid, a $900 billion package which was part of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 was signed off by Trump on 27 December 2020. It provided a one-off check of up to $600, but this time, households were also able to claim an additional $600 for child dependents aged 16 or under. Those who earned under $75,000 in the 2019 tax year received the full stimulus check, while a steadily smaller figure was given to those on a higher annual income, up to a maximum phase-out limit of $87,000. The first payments, through direct deposit and paper checks with some later payments made by EIP 2 Cards, were issued between 29 December 2020 and 15 January 2021.
Those who didnt receive a stimulus payment either through the CARES Act or the December Covid-19 Relief bill were able to claim for it retroactively when they filed their federal tax returns for 2020 through the IRS Recovery Rebate Credit.
Why Can’t I Get On The Get My Payment Site
The IRS said this can happen if people don’t provide security answers that match the tax agency’s information over the course of several attempts to log in. The IRS asks for personal information such as a Social Security number, birthdate and address.
“If you can’t verify your identity, you won’t be able to use Get My Payment,” the IRS said. “Don’t contact the IRS for assistance with a lockout IRS assisters can’t unlock your account.”
However, the site will allow you to try again after 24 hours.
What If I Am Not Required To File A Tax Return Can I Still Track My Stimulus Check
To use the Get My Payment tool to check the payment status of your stimulus check, the IRS needs enough information to verify your identity. The IRS may be unable to verify your identity if:
- You didn’t file an income tax return
- You didn’t use the IRS’s Non-Filers tool by November 21, 2020 to register for a payment or
- You receive federal benefits and the IRS doesn’t have enough information.
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What Should I Do If I See A ‘payment Status Not Available’ Message
The Get My Payment portal may give you a message that says ‘Payment Status Not Available‘ until the payment is scheduled to be issued, so you don’t need to do anything until it is updated.
However, if it is a legitimate message of error the IRS FAQ page offers a few possible reasons you might be seeing that message after you enter your information:
- You might not be eligible for a payment.
- Your payment might not yet have been processed .
- The IRS doesn’t have enough information to issue you a payment.
Do College Students And Adult Dependents Qualify For Stimulus Payments
Yes. Adult dependents, including college students and disabled adults, may receive up to $1,400. But their eligibility for payment and the amount theyll receive will depend on the adjusted gross income of the person who claims them on their taxes. See the question above for income limits and phase-out details.
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Problem #: The Irs Doesnt Have Enough Information To Issue My Stimulus Payment
“Payment Status Not Available” could also mean that the IRS “Needs More Information” to issue your stimulus payment.
If Needs More Information displays in your results, then your payment was returned because the Postal Service was unable to deliver it. The IRS says this means you were issued a check, rather than your payment being direct deposited into your bank account.
Dont worry, this is an easy fix.
In order to have your payment reissued as a direct deposit, you can update information for a bank account, prepaid debit card, or an alternative financial product that can be associated with a routing and account number.
If you do not provide updated account information, the IRS will not be able to reissue your payment.
More details on how to update your information are on file here.
Can A Debt Collector Take My Stimulus Check
Child support, taxes, and other debts to the federal government are exempt from garnishment, but a private debt collector can try to take your stimulus payment. While previous rounds of aid prohibited debt collectors from garnishing stimulus payments, that protection was not included in this third round.
Congress may consider new, separate legislation to shield this round of payments from debt collectors.
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Don’t Lose The Irs Letter That Confirms Your Stimulus Payment
If the IRS issues you a stimulus check, it sends a notice by mail to your last known address within 15 days after making the payment to confirm delivery. The letter contains information on when and how the payment was made and how to report it to the IRS if you didn’t receive all the money you’re entitled to. You’ll need to reference this information if you don’t receive your full payment and need to claim your money later. Here’s how to recover the information if you lost or tossed the letter.
Learn smart gadget and internet tips and tricks with our entertaining and ingenious how-tos.
I Think I Got Paid Too Much Will I Have To Return My Stimulus Payment
During the first and second rounds of payment, if your stimulus amount was too much based on your income, you did not have to pay back the difference. That is likely to be the case for this round of payments as well.
If you received a payment in errorfor instance, for someone who died in 2020the IRS offers instructions for returning a payment.
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Biden Signed Bill On Thursday $1400 Checks Coming To Most
Ken Haddad, Digital Special Projects
Associated Press
Another round of COVID-19 stimulus checks are due to most Americans after Democrats successfully pushed through a $1.9T relief bill signed by President Biden last week.
When could Americans start seeing payments?
President Biden signed the massive bill on Thursday, March 11. The White House said last Thursday that some could see payments as early as the weekend. , though most will likely see payments in the upcoming week.
You will receive payments quicker if youre set up for direct deposit with the IRS. Checks would likely be issued a few days later.
How to track stimulus payment
You can track your stimulus payment using the IRS Get My Payment tool right here.
Who is eligible for $1,400 stimulus payment?
The legislation provides a direct payment of $1,400 for a single taxpayer, or $2,800 for a married couple that files jointly, plus $1,400 per dependent. Individuals earning up to $75,000 would get the full amount, as would married couples with incomes up to $150,000.
The size of the check would shrink for those making slightly more, with a hard cut-off at $80,000 for individuals and $160,000 for married couples.
Most Americans will be getting the full amount. The median household income was $68,703 in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Income is based on your 2020 tax filing, or if you havent filed yet, your 2019 taxes.
What Kind Of Messages Can It Display
If the portal is unable to determine whether or not you are eligible for the check or if you are completely ineligible you may receive an error message.
If the Get My Payment tool gives you a payment date but you still haven’t received your money, the IRS may need more details from you. The error could also indicate that your check has been returned because the post office was unable to deliver it.
After the IRS starts sending checks, the online tool may let you enter your banking information to receive your payment straight to your bank account, as it did with the first payment, or it may hold your payment until it receives a current mailing address.
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What’s The First Step To Take
First, you need to log into the Internal Revenue Services Get My Payment tool.
Youll be able to find out when the IRS sent out your check, how much it should be, how it’ll be paid if there’s a delay and more.
To use it, youll need your Social Security Number or Individual Tax ID Number .
If you’ve forgotten your SSN or need a new card, see how you can get a replacement on the official SSN website.
Youll also need to enter your date of birth and address.
Can You Use The Portal If You Didn’t File A Tax Return
You couldn’t use the “Get My Payment” tool to track the status of your first stimulus check if you didn’t file a 2018 or 2019 federal income tax return. However, there was another online tool that non-filers could use to give the IRS with the information it needed to process a payment.
The non-filers tool wasn’t used for second stimulus checks, though. Instead, if you didn’t file a 2019 tax return, and you didn’t use the non-filers tool to get your first-round payment, then you have to wait to claim your second stimulus check money as a Recovery Rebate credit on your 2020 return.
The IRS is not using the non-filers tool for third-round stimulus checks, either. As a result, if you don’t file a 2019 or 2020 tax return, you’ll have to claim any money you’re owed as a Recovery Rebate credit on your 2021 return, which you won’t file until next year. However, you can avoid having to wait until next year by filing a 2020 return before the May 17, 2021, deadline.
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How To Use Irs ‘get My Payment’
The IRS also updated frequently asked questions Saturday on how to use the “Get My Payment” tool, which requires users to enter their full Social Security number or tax ID number, date of birth, street address and ZIP code.
But before you start entering your information hourly, the IRS says the tool updates once per day, usually overnight and that people should not call the IRS. Our phone assistors don’t have information beyond what’s available on IRS.gov.
The tool will show the status of when a payment has been issued and the payment date for direct deposit or mail, according to the frequently asked questions. Some will get a message that says “Payment Status Not Available.”
“If you get this message, either we have not yet processed your payment, or you are not eligible for a payment,” the IRS said. “We will continue to send the 2021 Economic Impact Payment to eligible individuals throughout 2021.”
And others will get a “Need More Information” message when using the tool if the payment was returned to the IRS because the post office was unable to deliver it for another reason.
If your address has changed the IRS says the easiest way to update is to “file your 2020 tax return with your current address, if you havent already done so. Once we receive your current address, we will reissue your payment.”
Contributing: Jessica Menton, USA TODAY
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Which Payment Group Is Yours
How you get your stimulus money often indicates when you get it. Heres what happened in the past with the different types of groups.
- Direct-deposit recipients: Typically got their stimulus money in the first wave but there were issues involving deposits going to temporary accounts that were rejected by banks. In some cases, these people got paper checks or EIP cards instead or had to wait for the issue to be resolved.
- Paper checks: This is the payment type the IRS sent out second. This method can take weeks to arrive by mail, but the check can be deposited or cashed right away.
- EIP cards: This payment type arrives as a prepaid debit card you must activate online to use. The IRS issued EIP cards last, delaying receipt for this recipient group by weeks.
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Amount And Status Of Your Payment
To find the amount of the third payment, create or view your online account or refer to IRS Notice 1444-C, which we mailed after sending the payment.
If you are sent a plus-up Economic Impact Payment after your 2020 tax return is processed:
- The amount of your initial third payment will no longer show in your online account. You will only see the amount of your plus-up payment.
- The status of your initial third payment will no longer show in Get My Payment. You will only see the status of your plus-up payment.
When Will I Get The Third Stimulus Check
You may get a stimulus check starting as early as this weekend. However, stimulus payments will not be distributed all at once. Similar to the first and second stimulus checks, the IRS will send stimulus payments in this order:
- First to individuals with direct deposit who have bank account information on file and
- Second, paper stimulus checks and prepaid debit cards sent via mail.
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How To Track Your Stimulus Payment Online
With the IRS Get My Payment tool, you can get a daily update on your payment status. The online app can also alert you with a message if theres a problem with your payment that you may need to address. It cant, however, give updates on your plus-up payment from the IRS.
If you expect your payment to come in the mail, you can use a free tool from the US Postal Service to track your mailed stimulus payment.
Paper Checks And Debit Cards
If you received the first two stimulus payments but didn’t receive them as direct deposit, you may get a paper check or a new debit card in the mail. The IRS will not reload debit cards you may have received for prior stimulus check payments.
Here’s what the debit card and mailing envelope look like, so you don’t accidentally throw out your money with the junk mail.
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People who died before January 1, 2021.
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If I Owe Back Child Support Will I Still Get A Payment
Yes. If you or your spouse owes back child support, your stimulus payment cannot be garnished to pay that debt. The same is true if you owe federal or state debts: your stimulus payment cannot be garnished. Your payment wont be levied by the IRS, either.
Although the second and third stimulus payments cant be garnished for unpaid child support, the amounts can be garnished if you dont get money up front and need to claim the credits on your taxes.
What Does The Get My Payment Tell You About Your Stimulus Check
If the Get My Payment tool works the same as the first and second stimulus checks , the Get My Payment tool will show you one of two messages:
Also Check: Irs Get My Payment Second Stimulus Check
Tracking Your Third Stimulus Check
The IRS fired up the popular again so that you can track the status of your third stimulus check. The online tool lets you:
- Check the status of your stimulus payment
- Confirm your payment type and
- Get a projected direct deposit or paper check delivery date .
For more information about the tool, see .
Recommended Reading: Can I Get Stimulus Without Filing Taxes
What Should I Do If I See A Payment Status Not Available Message
The Get My Payment portal may give you a message that says ‘Payment Status Not Available’ until the payment is scheduled to be issued, so you don’t need to do anything until it is updated.
However, if it is a legitimate message of error the IRS FAQ page offers a few possible reasons you might be seeing that message after you enter your information:
- You might not be eligible for a payment.
- Your payment might not yet have been processed .
- The IRS doesn’t have enough information to issue you a payment.
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Debt Collectors Could Take Some Of Your Covid Stimulus Check
The tool may show some taxpayers a Need More Information message, which means the Postal Service was unable to deliver your payment. Those people can use Get My Payment to submit bank account information to the IRS.
The Get My Payment tool wasnt the only source of grief for taxpayers awaiting their stimulus funds.
JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo customers slammed the banks on social media after they said the funds would not be available until at least Wednesday even though the first checks arrived this weekend.
Thats because March 17 is the official payment date on the first batch of checks, according to the banks. The IRS says some people may see the direct deposits show up as pending or provisional payments before that date.
This also isnt the first batch of complaints about Get My Payment. The tool told some people earlier this year that their $600 stimulus checks had been sent to unfamiliar bank accounts as the result of a snafu involving tax-preparation firms.
As the IRS distributed the first $1,200 checks last spring, some people who owed no tax and didnt get a refund on their most recent tax return were temporarily unable to expedite their payments before the feds fixed a bug in the Get My Payment tool.