For the millions of Americans eligible for a third coronavirus stimulus check, now is the time to stay on top of tracking your payment.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Department have already disbursed approximately three-fifths of all stimulus payments of $1,400 (or more) to eligible US citizens. adults, according to recent releases from the agencies. the first tranche of payments was sent to 90 million Americans beginning March 17, while a second wave began March 22. That comes less than two weeks after President Joe Biden signed the massive $1.9 trillion US bailout plan into law.
If you don’t receive your payment in the form of direct deposit by March 24, the IRS says you should prepare for the possibility that your Economic Impact Payment (as it’s officially known) may arrive in the mail as a physical payment. check or prepaid debit card, at least until the next round of payments is disbursed. If your check bounced or the postal service returned your payment, you may also need to update your information on file with the IRS. Either way, you’ll want to use the IRS Get My Payment tool.
Here’s everything you need to know about tracking your stimulus check, as well as eligibility requirements and what you need to do to make sure you get your payment as soon as possible.
who is eligible for the third stimulus check?
If you’re trying to track your stimulus check, you’ll first want to know if you’re eligible to receive one, information that the Get My Payment tool won’t explicitly tell you when you track your check.
A good rule of thumb to determine if you qualify: If you previously qualified for the full amount, you will qualify again. Income requirements to receive full stimulus checks are the same for single and married filers, while income information is based on your most recently processed tax return (2019 or 2020, if you have already filed).
if you earned up to $75,000 (based on annual adjustable gross income, or agi) you are scheduled to receive the full $1,400 relief check. married couples will receive $2,800 (two $1,400 checks) as long as their combined gross income is no more than $150,000.
But the point where payments are completely eliminated for Americans occurs earlier on the income ladder, a move meant to appease more deficit-concerned lawmakers and reduce the size of the overall aid package.
Individuals’ total payments decrease by $28 for every $100 above the income threshold. single filers and married couples earning $80,000 and $160,000 or more a year, respectively, will not receive any checks.
ee. uu. Eligible adults will see $1,400 for each person in their household, including adult dependents like college students.
If you are not eligible for a stimulus payment but are currently out of work, here is how you can apply for unemployment benefits.
when will your stimulus check arrive?
Stimulus payments are distributed to taxpayers either through direct deposit or through paper checks or debit cards that arrive in the mail. If you’ve been paying your taxes by direct deposit, the IRS should already have your bank information on file and will make the payment directly to your bank account.
For direct deposit, the IRS uses data already in its system to determine which bank account to send the payment to. That most likely happens when attaching a routing and account number to your 2020 or 2019 tax return, as well as entering one earlier in 2020 to receive your first stimulus check. those receiving payments by mail will have to wait a bit longer.
In this round, the Treasury Department is also working with the IRS to identify federal records of recent payments to and from the government to find a possible alternative bank account to deliver stimulus payments as direct deposit. The move helped speed up the stimulus check delivery schedule, the IRS said in a statement.
In most cases, people are not required to take any action to receive their checks and are discouraged from contacting the IRS, according to a statement from the Treasury Department.
The Treasury Department and the IRS anticipate sending more weekly installments in the future.
How do I check the status of my stimulus payment?
But waiting for your stimulus check can be an anxiety-ridden process, especially at a time when nearly 10 million Americans are out of work. use treasury department tracker:
- visit the “get my payment” page that the irs has set up on their website.
- to monitor the status of your payment and track it, click (or tap) on the blue “get my payment” button.
- you will be redirected to a page about authorized use; go ahead and click (or tap) accept.
- on the get my payment page, enter your social security number (or tax identification number), your date of birth, your address, and your zip code. When you’re done, click (or tap) the continue button.
- This takes you to a payment status page, which tells you the status of your payment and when you can expect it. (You may also be told that the service cannot determine your status.)
If you see a “payment status unavailable” error message on the platform, the irs says one of the following issues could be occurring:
- the agency has not yet processed your Economic Impact Payment;
- does not have enough information on file to issue you a payment; or
- is not eligible for a payment.
The platform generally updates overnight, which means you won’t see a new message if you check for updates more regularly than once a day.
payment status not available: what should you do?
The IRS Get My Payment tool will only allow you to enter new direct deposit or bank account information if it sees a “need more information” status, breaking with the tradition of previous rounds of stimulus checks. that works by sending a financial product that includes a routing and account number, be it a bank account or a prepaid debit card.
The easiest way to ensure the IRS has the most accurate picture of your financial situation and personal whereabouts is to file your 2020 tax return. You now have until May 17 to file your 2020 tax return, after the irs announced on March 17 that it would push back the deadline by a month.
However, given the unprecedented and unconventional nature of the current tax season, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service may have already attempted to send your payment before your tax information was processed.
You can also update your mailing address by submitting a Form 8822, Change of Address, or by notifying the IRS orally of your move. But be prepared: You may experience delays waiting for confirmation, since the IRS has already begun distributing these stimulus checks. As always, direct deposit is the fastest way to ensure you get paid.
what happens if you don’t receive your payment or only receive a partial amount?
If you haven’t received your payment yet, don’t panic, though that’s easier said than done. Compared to the first round of stimulus checks, the Treasury Department and the IRS have significantly reduced the delivery schedule by weeks, if not months. however, the text of the US aid plan still gives both agencies until December 1. on January 31, 2021 to distribute all funds, which means the last round of checks may not arrive in consumers’ mailboxes until January 2022.
Consider registering in the US. uu. the postal service’s informed delivery service, so you know ahead of time any mail you’ll receive on any given day. If the IRS says you already mailed your check but didn’t receive it, you may also decide to request a follow-up payment on the stimulus check in the future. You can schedule one by calling an IRS hotline or by mailing or faxing a completed Form 3911, Taxpayer’s Return on Refund. but be prepared: this process can take weeks. The IRS may also ask you to remain quiet for the time being, in some cases for up to nine weeks.
Be sure to save all the documents the IRS and Treasury send you regarding your stimulus payments for tax filing purposes. Then figure out how much you should receive based on your income, filing status (single, head of household, or married), and the number of dependents in your household. If they don’t match, you’ll want to claim any and all missing payments as a recovery refund credit. You can do this by completing a new section (line 30) on the 1040 form. Since the stimulus payments have been extended through the 2021 tax season, this option will likely persist through 2022, another option for tracking your money if you never receive it.
more information:
- Survey: 31% of Americans Waiting for a Stimulus Check Say It Won’t Keep Them Up for a Month
- Don’t Have Direct Deposit Set Up During the Coronavirus Pandemic? here’s what to do
- stimulus checks: what consumers should consider doing with the money
note: daniel bukszpan contributed to an earlier version of this story.