Relief Check Coming In Maine
On Friday, April 22, the Mills administration set up a website, Maine.gov/reliefchecks. There, people can go to get answers about the payments. Among the key details to know:
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Eligibility depends on filing a 2021 Maine individual income tax return by October 31, 2022, as a full-time Maine resident.
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Those eligible must have a federal adjusted gross income of less than: $100,000 if filing single or if married and filing separately $150,000 if filing as head of household or $200,000 for couples filing jointly.
Importantly, unlike many other stimulus programs including those at the federal level? Maines effort here, which Mills proposed and which got near-unanimous approval from the state legislature, is coming out of a state surplus.
Specifically, these relief check payments are expected to return half of Maines budget surplus to, as the governors office has said, an estimated 858,000 Maine people grappling with the increased costs as a result of pandemic-driven inflation.
What Should I Do Now
There are several things you can do now ahead of a third stimulus payment to ensure things go as smoothly as possible.
- Make sure the IRS has direct deposit information for you so you will be among the first to receive a stimulus payment.
- If you havent filed your 2020 taxes, consider any difference between 2019 and 2020 income. If the IRS uses your 2019 taxes and you receive more than you would have using 2020 taxes, then you likely wont have to pay that money back.
- Conversely, if you receive a stimulus based on 2019 and actually qualify for more in 2020, then you can claim the difference as a Recovery Rebate Credit when you file your 2021 taxes in 2022.
- If you have a refund coming in 2020 or have makeup prior stimulus credits coming, then you may want to file now to get that money.
- To avoid not receiving your third stimulus and having to claim it as a credit in 2022, even if you dont normally have to file income taxes, consider doing it this year to make sure you are in the IRS system.
When Is My Stimulus Check Coming
That depends on whether you gave the IRS your direct deposit information when you filed your 2018 or 2019 federal tax returns. If you did, the agency will use that information to automatically deposit your stimulus check into your bank account. Keep an eye out for those funds: The IRS said on April 28 that 89.5 million people received payments in the first three weeks of the program. More than 150 million payments will be sent out in total.
If you didnt provide your direct deposit information with your tax returns, the IRS will send you a paper check in the mail. But that will take longer than direct deposit to reach you. In a statement to TIME on April 16, a Treasury spokesperson said officials expect the first paper checks to be in the mail early next week, meaning the week of April 20.
Paper checks are expected to take longer than direct deposit and likely wont be sent out all at once, but instead dispersed over a period of several weeks, York tells TIME. People who do not have direct deposit information on file with the IRS should expect a delay in receiving their payment. It could take up to five months for everyone to get their paper checks, she says.
The IRS will also send stimulus check recipients a confirmation letter 15 days after the payment was sent, regardless of how it was sent. If you get that letter but havent received your payment yet, something may be amiss.
Read more: Receiving government benefits? Heres what to know about your stimulus payment
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How Do I Check The Status Of My Stimulus Payment
But waiting on your stimulus check can be an anxiety-ridden process, especially at a time when nearly 10 million Americans are out of work. Use the Treasury Departments tracker:
If youre seeing a payment status not available error message on the platform, the IRS says one of the following issues might be occurring:
The platform is typically updated overnight, meaning you wont see a new message if youre checking for updates more regularly than once a day.
How Do I Get Help Filing A 2020 Tax Return To Claim My Eip
The IRS recommends electronic filing, and we agree. It is a faster, more secure option. Paper forms will take much longer to be processed by IRS. You may qualify for free e-file software.
You can also call the Vermont 2-1-1 hotline and follow the menu options for tax preparation. Through this service you may be able to schedule an appointment with a free Volunteer Income Tax Preparation Assistance site. These sites are staffed by trained volunteers. They provide free preparation services to taxpayers who meet eligibility requirements.
Also, you can find Form 1040 and Form 1040 instructions on the IRS website. The instructions for the “Recovery Rebate Credit” are found on pages 57 – 59.
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Im Told My Stimulus Check Was Sent But I Didnt Get It
To find the amounts of your economic impact payments , check your online account.
You can securely access your individual IRS account online to view the total of your first, second and third economic impact payment amounts under the economic impact payment information section on the tax records page.
The IRS mailed EIP notices to the address they have on file.
- Notice 1444: Shows the first Economic Impact Payment sent for tax year 2020
- Notice 1444-B: Shows the second Economic Impact Payment sent for tax year 2020
- Notice 1444-C: Shows the third Economic Impact Payment sent for tax year 2021
For married filing joint individuals, each spouse will need to log into their own online account or review their own letter for their half of the total payment.
I Dont Have A Bank Account How Can I Receive My Stimulus Payment
If youre one of the 14.1 million Americans who dont have a bank account, youll still be able to receive a stimulus payment. The IRS will mail your check to the address it has on file for you. However, it may take a while to arrive.
If you log in to the IRSs online Get My Payment tool with your Social Security number, date of birth and mailing address, youll be able to track your payment. However, if you dont usually file a tax return, the IRS says your data might not be in the system yet.
Individuals without bank accounts could use the paper checks to open up a checking or a savings account. However, as Hasen explains, many people who dont have bank accounts face multiple barriers to opening one some lack an ID, or its hard to access a physical bank location, especially as many are limiting operations during the coronavirus outbreak. In those cases, people can cash their checks at cash checking businesses though they may be subject to a fee or use offerings like Squares Cash App, which allows for direct deposits without a traditional bank account.
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I Dont Typically File A Tax Return What Can I Do
If you dont usually file a tax return and are on Social Security, Railroad Retirement or Social Security Disability Insurance, you dont have to do anything. The IRS will use the information it has on file about you to calculate and send your payment. Those automatic payments should begin arriving next week, the IRS said on April 24.
Recipients of Supplemental Security Income as well as veterans and their beneficiaries who receive Compensation and Pension benefit payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs will also receive their payments automatically. The IRS said on April 24 that SSI and veterans benefit recipients should receive their automatic payments by mid-May.
If you made less than $12,200 in 2019, or $24,400 for married couples, and thus didnt have to file a federal income tax return, you can still receive a stimulus payment. Visit this IRS page:Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here and input your information. Youll have to provide your name, mailing address, email address, date of birth and valid Social Security number. Youll also have to provide the name and Social Security number for each of your dependents. And if you have them, prepare to provide your Identity Protection Personal Identification Number , a state issued ID and your bank account information. The IRS has a detailed guide on what to expect when you file. The tool is also available in Spanish.
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How Much Will I Get
The third coronavirus stimulus package calls for individual payments of $1,400 to each qualified adult and $1,400 to each dependent.
Single taxpayers will receive the full $1,400 payment with a 2020 adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less. For couples, its $2,800 with an AGI of $150,000 or less. If you havent filed your 2020 taxes by the time checks go out, then your stimulus will be based on your 2019 AGI. The amount you receive will phase out and disappear at $80,000 for an individual and $160,000 in the case of a joint return.
After passage by both houses of Congress, President Biden signed the legislation into law on March 11, 2021. Direct payments of $1,400 to individuals are expected to begin within days of the legislation becoming law.
Will The Irs Reload A Prior Pre
Some people who received one or both of their first two stimulus payments on a pre-paid debit card may wonder if the IRS will reload that card with the $1,400 for the latest round of payments. The answer is no, the IRS says.
If the IRS now has bank account information for you, it will send the money via direct deposit. If not, it will either issue a check or a pre-paid debit card, but the latter will come in the form of a new card, the tax agency said.
People should look for a white envelope with the return address “Economic Impact Payment Card” accompanied by a U.S. Treasury Department seal. The card says “Visa” on the front, and the issuing bank, MetaBank, on the back.
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‘payment Status Not Available’: Why
The IRS says that millions of taxpayers have successfully used the new Get My Payment app to track their stimulus checks and, if needed, add their direct deposit information to get payment faster. So why are countless people complaining on social media that they entered their information at the app only to receive a frustrating “Payment Status Not Available” message?
In some cases, there could be glitches with the Get My Payment app itself that are preventing people from adding direct deposit information or finding out the expected date for their payments to arrive. Among other quirks, the system may give you a “Payment Status Not Available Message” if you owed $0 in taxes and received no refund on your most recent tax return, the Washington Post reported, because the IRS form gave an error message for people entering “0” in those corresponding spots.
The Get My Payment app went offline during certain late-night hours on Thursday, April 23, through Saturday, April 25, for “planned maintenance.” On April 26, the IRS announced “significant enhancements” to the app, though the agency did not specify which glitches had been fixed. “We urge people who havenât received a payment date yet to visit Get My Payment again for the latest information,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in a statement. “IRS teams worked long hours to deliver Get My Payment in record time, and we will continue to make improvements to help Americans.”
What If You Have Trouble With The Tool
To use the Get My Payment tool, you must first verify your identity by answering security questions. If the information you enter does not match IRS records, you will receive an error message. To avoid this:
- Double-check the information requested
- Make sure what you enter is accurate
- Try entering your street address in a different way and
- Use the US Postal Services ZIP Lookup tool to look up the standard version of your address, and enter it into exactly as it appears on file with the Postal Service.
If your answers do not match the IRS records three times, youll be locked out of Get My Payment for security reasons. If that happens, you must wait 24 hours and try again. If you cant verify your identity, you wont be able to use Get My Payment. Unfortunately, theres no fix for that: the IRS says not to not contact them.
However, if you verified your identity and received Payment Status Not Available, this means that the IRS cannot determine your eligibility for a payment right now. There are several reasons this could happen, including:
- You didnt file either a 2018 or 2019 tax return or
- Your recently filed return has not been fully processed.
Again, the IRS says theres no fix for that and you should not contact them.
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Is The Third Stimulus Check Still Going Out
The third stimulus check is still going out, having reached some 165 million Americans. Be sure to check your stimulus check status or call the IRS stimulus check phone number with questions regarding your payment. Read on for everything there is to know about the possibility of another round of payments.
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What Will The Status Report Look Like
For third-round stimulus checks, the “Get My Payment” tool will display one of the following:
1. Payment Status. If you get this message, a payment has been issued. The status page will show a payment date, payment method , and account information if paid by direct deposit. Note that “mail” means either a paper check or a debit card. If you don’t recognize the bank account number displayed in the tool, it doesn’t necessarily mean your deposit was made to the wrong account or that there’s a fraud. If you don’t recognize the account number, it may be an issue related to how information is displayed in the tool tied to temporary accounts used for refund loans/banking products.
2. Need More Information. This message is displayed if your 2020 return was processed but the IRS doesn’t have bank account information for you and your payment has not been issued yet. It could also mean your payment was returned to the IRS by the Post Office as undeliverable. As mentioned above, if your payment is returned, you’ll have the opportunity to provide the IRS your bank account or debit card information so they can issue a direct deposit payment . If you don’t provide any account information, the IRS can’t reissue your payment until they receive an updated address.
The portal is updated no more than once daily, typically overnight. As a result, there’s no reason to check the portal more than once per day.
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