Still Don’t Have A Stimulus Check Here’s How To Track Yours
May 12, 2021 / 3:35 PM / MoneyWatch
While major banks in the U.S. started delivering $1,400 stimulus checks in March, the federal relief payments continue to arrive at millions of households struggling to make ends meet amid the coronavirus-hobbled economy.
The Internal Revenue Service has delivered more than 165 million payments, with a total value of approximately $388 billion, the agency said Wednesday. The latest round includes 1 million payments, with the IRS noting they have an official payment date of May 12. That means the most recent recipients will receive a direct deposit on Wednesday, or soon get a paper check or pre-paid debit card in the mail.
The timing and delivery of checks has been a cause of anxiety for some people, especially for those who receive government benefits such as Social Security and don’t typically file taxes. The IRS prioritized sending checks to people who have already filed their 2019 or 2020 tax returns, since the agency was able to quickly verify eligibility based on income and also determine where to mail or direct deposit the checks.
The agency said it’s sending another 500,000 payments to eligible people who recently filed a tax return but for whom it didn’t previously have information to issue a stimulus check.
How Will The Irs Send ‘plus
If you received your stimulus payment via direct deposit, thats likely how you will get the plus-up money. If the IRS doesn’t have your information, you may receive a paper check instead, tax experts say.
If you havent filed your 2020 return yet, just get it in, recommends Dina Pyron, global leader of EY TaxChat, a tax prep service from Ernst & Young. Once you file your 2020 return and you qualify for the $1,400 for you, your family and dependents, those payments will either be deposited directly in your bank account, or you will get an additional check.
Heres Exactly When Youll Get Your Stimulus Check
When will I get my stimulus check?
Heres what you need to know – and what to do about it.
Where is my stimulus check?
If you havent received your stimulus check, then youre probably wondering when its going to arrive. The first batch of stimulus checks already have been sent through direct deposit, and maybe you werent one of the lucky 80 million people. If you included your direct deposit information on your 2018 or 2019 federal tax return, the IRS already should have paid you through direct deposit.
The IRS is now sending paper stimulus checks, and plans to send approximately 5 million paper checks each week. The order of stimulus checks is not random or based on geography. The IRS will send checks starting with taxpayers who have the lowest annual adjusted gross income as reported on their 2018 or 2019 tax return, whichever is more recent. Here is the planned weekly schedule for the IRS to mail stimulus checks based on annual adjusted gross income, as first reported by The Washington Post. All dates represent the week ending and the IRS could change this schedule at any time.
- Less than $10,000: April 24
- $10,001 – $20,000: May 1
- Remaining checks: September 11
How can I get my stimulus check faster?
Read Also: Where’s My Stimulus Check Update
Can Homeless People Get A Stimulus Check
Yes, they can get a stimulus payment. The only way to get a payment is to file a tax return with the IRS. You can do this for free. If you dont have a fixed address and you dont have a bank account, check with a local community or religious organization or with a homeless shelter to see if you have options for getting your mail from the IRS delivered there.
Keep in mind that it may take some time for the IRS to process your tax return and your stimulus payment.
What Is A Plus
A plus-up supplemental payment is a new or larger payment you may be eligible to get if you recently submitted your 2020 tax return and your income or number of dependents changed.
For example, if you received a partial third stimulus payment based on your 2019 income, but your income declined in 2020, you may receive another payment to make up the difference between the two amounts. Your original third stimulus payment and your plus-up payment together will equal the amount youre eligible to receive based on your 2020 tax return.
On April 1, the IRS announced that new payment batches include supplemental payments for these people. As of late June 9, more than 8 million plus-up payments have been issued.
Also Check: How To Receive Second Stimulus Check
Which Dependents Qualify For A Stimulus Check
Unlike the first and second round of checks, payments for dependents in the third round are not restricted to only children under 17.
According to the IRS website: “Eligible families will get a payment based on all of their qualifying dependents claimed on their return, including older relatives like college students, adults with disabilities, parents and grandparents.”
Irs Has Sent $6 Billion In Stimulus Payments Just In June Here’s How To Track Your Money
Your stimulus check could be on its way, along with child tax credit money and unemployment tax refunds. We’ll explain the state of the payments today.
Stimulus check payments aren’t over yet for everyone.
Don’t think that the child tax credit payments going out in just over two weeks are all the IRS is focused on. The tax agency continues to send weekly batches of the third stimulus checks, with more than $6 billion in stimulus payments going out just in June. Some of that money includes “plus-up” adjustments for people who received less money than they were supposed to get in earlier checks.
Even though many of us got our stimulus money in the earlier batches in spring, some have had to wait weeks or months for their checks. The IRS sent money first to people who’d already filed their 2019 or 2020 tax returns because those were the easiest to verify. So if you’re still waiting for your stimulus check up to $1,400 — or think you might be due a plus-up payment — we’ll tell you what to do next.
In the meantime, many experts say a fourth stimulus check is unlikely, but millions of families will be getting a good chunk of money with July’s first child tax credit payment. We can tell you how to know if you qualify and how much money you could expect over the course of the year. The IRS is also issuing unemployment tax refunds to millions of people who received jobless benefits last year, though payments are taking longer than expected. This story was updated recently.
Also Check: Get My Third Stimulus Check
How To Track Your Stimulus Check 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 there’s a problem with your payment that you may need to address. Another option is to create an online account with the IRS, if you haven’t already.
If you get sent a plus-up payment after your 2020 tax return is processed, the amount of your third payment will no longer show up in the tool, according to the IRS. In that case you will only see the status of your plus-up payment.
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.
You May Face A Delay If You Claim These Tax Credits
There are a couple of issues that could cause delays, even if you do everything correctly.
The IRS notes that it can’t issue a refund that involves the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Child Tax Credit before mid-February. “The law provides this additional time to help the IRS stop fraudulent refunds from being issued,” the agency said this week.
That means if you file as soon as possible on January 24, you still might not receive a refund within the 21-day time frame if your tax return involves either of those tax credits. In fact, the IRS is informing those who claim these credits that they will most likely receive their refunds in early March, assuming they filed their returns on January 24 or close to that date.
The reason relates to a 2015 law that slows refunds for people who claim these credits, which was designed as a measure to combat fraudsters who rely on identity theft to grab taxpayer’s refunds.
With reporting by the Associated Press.
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Why $1400 Checks And Not $2000
Biden’s plan called for $1,400 checks for most Americans, which on top of the $600 provided in the Dec. 2020 relief plan would bring the total to the $2,000 that Biden called for.
This calculator can help determine how much you can expect from the third stimulus check.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
In Other News
Im Not A Us Citizen Will I Be Eligible For A Stimulus Payment
You may be eligible. Much like the last round of stimulus payments, if you have a Social Security number, theres a good chance you fall into one of the classifications for immigrants who qualify for a payment.
If you do not have a Social Security number but your spouse is an active duty military member, you may still receive the full $2,800 .
Also Check: When Will I Get The Third Stimulus Check
When Is The Irs Sending Out Refunds
A number of factors will determine when a tax refund will be received by a taxpayer, those being:
- How early the taxes are filed
- If the taxpayer is claiming credits
- Whether the return is mailed or e-filed
- Whether the taxpayer has existing federal debts
- The COVID stimulus checks sent out in 2020 and 2021 will not have any affect on income tax refunds, although some taxpayers may be determined to have been owed one, which could lead to higher refunds
If an income tax return has Earned Income Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit, the processing will be delayed by two to three weeks
Tax returns that are filed electronically by January 24 will be sent by January 31. Those to arrive by January 31 will then be sent on February 11. The following list shows the filed-by date on the left, followed by the date by which the tax refund will be sent.
What To Do If You’re Missing Money From The First Two Stimulus Checks
Plus-up payments are going out weekly along with the third round of checks, but they may not be the only money you’re due. For money missing from the first two checks, you need to claim that on your 2020 taxes. We suggest making sure you know how to find out your adjusted gross income. You may be eligible to claim the 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit for claiming missing money from the first two checks.
Also, last week, the IRS launched a new online for familes that don’t file taxes called the “Non-filer Sign-up Tool.” Its purpose is to help eligible families who don’t normally file a tax return enroll in the monthly child tax credit advance payment program, which is slated to begin July 15. However, the tool is also for those who did not file either a 2019 or 2020 tax return and did not use the previous nonfilers tool last year to register for stimulus payments.
In other words, individuals who experience homelessness or make little or no income can use this tool to enter their personal details for the IRS’ records so as to receive the $1,400 stimulus checks or claim the recovery rebate credit for any amount of the first two rounds of payments that might have been missed. Tax nonfilers may need to be proactive about claiming a new dependent, too.
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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.
It Might Be Important To File Your 2020 Taxes As Soon As Possible
The salary caps may be different between this stimulus package and the previous ones, but a major life change may mean you still qualify for a payment. If you’ve seen a salary reduction, lost a job, or had a child since you filed your 2019 taxes, updating your information with a more recent filing could help secure a check, CBS News reports.
Those who are still waiting on previous stimulus checks may want to consider filing, as well: any missing payments could still make their way to those who qualify in the form of a tax credit. Doing so will lower the amount of money you owe or increase the size of your tax return, AARP reports. And for more on when the pandemic may take another bad turn, check out Dr. Fauci Says This Is the Sign That We’ll Have Another COVID Surge.
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$1400 Stimulus Checks Are On The Way Irs Says
Those who want to check on the status of their payment and see if it has been scheduled can do so through the Get My Payment tool on IRS.gov. The website is updated daily, usually after midnight.
After putting in their information, users should receive a message indicating whether their payment has been processed or not. If it has, the site will provide a date of payment, as well as how the funds were sent .
Additional payments are expected to go out on a weekly basis, the IRS noted.
The federal agency began sending out the stimulus checks on March 12, one day after President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package known as the American Rescue Plan into law.
A key provision of the bill, which was passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress along party lines, provides $1,400 stimulus payments to the vast majority of Americans.
Individuals earning up to $75,000 and married couples making up to $150,000 will receive the full amount. The payments gradually decrease from there and are phased out entirely for individuals and married couples with incomes of more than $80,000 and $160,000 respectively.
More information about the third round of stimulus checks, including additional details about eligibility, can be found here.
Payments Could Start Arriving Within Two Weeks Of The Bill’s Passage
Now that the Senate has passed the latest COVID relief bill, all that is required for it to be signed into law is for the House of Representatives’ approval. If the bill passes its scheduled vote on March 10, President Joe Biden is expected to authorize the bill with his signature and then the checks can start to go out. This plan will get checks out the door starting this month to the Americans that so desperately need the help,” Biden said at a press conference on March 6.
According to Garrett Watson, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, those who received their past two stimulus payments as a direct deposit should start seeing the funds arrive in their bank accounts within two weeks. For some, the bill’s passage should initiate payments that will start arriving within days, CNN reports.
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Irs Deposit Dates 202: When Is The Irs Sending Refunds
All you need to know about when you’ll be paid your tax refund in 2022
- IRS Tax Refunds.How to Avoid IRS Tax Delays
American citizens are eager to know when the Internal Revenue Service will be sending out tax refund payments in 2022, with many set to receive a significant sum. Once the tax paperwork has been filed, the IRS proceeds to pay out the refunds owed, although it may take a while for the money to land in bank accounts.
In contrast to 2020 and 2021, the 2022 tax-filing process comes a lot sooner than normal, with US citizens required to file their taxes by Monday, April 18, 2022.
Due to this, the federal and state income tax returns filing process should also be relatively regular, which will result in taxpayers most likely receiving refund payments within just two or three weeks of the aforementioned date.
Here, in this guide to tax refund dates in 2022, we outline all you need to know about the money you may be owed from the IRS and when you’ll see it.
This Irs Tax Return Status Is Showing What Does It Mean
Both IRS tools will show you one of three messages to explain your tax return status.
- Received: The IRS now has your tax return and is working to process it.
- Approved: The IRS has processed your return and confirmed the amount of your refund, if you’re owed one.
- Sent: Your refund is now on its way to your bank via direct deposit or as a paper check sent to your mailbox.
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What Does Need More Information Mean
Others may see a “need more information” message, which the tax agency said means the payment was returned to the IRS because the U.S. Postal Service wasn’t able to deliver the check. In that case, people can use the “Get My Payment” site to provide the IRS with bank information but the tax agency said that only people who get the “need more information” message will be able to add their bank information to the portal.