Slowly but surely, taxpayers are telling their friends and posting on social media that they’re already seeing stimulus checks arrive in their bank accounts.
And the Internal Revenue Service is expected to give you a new online tool as soon as Wednesday to get a better clue on when you’ll see your Economic Impact Payment via IRS.gov/eip. The IRS said the tool will let you go online to check the status of a payment, including the date it’s scheduled to be deposited or mailed.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a press briefing Monday that Treasury is ahead of schedule in getting the money out and expects that more than 80 million people will receive their stimulus money by Wednesday.
The U.S. Department of Treasury expects that a “large majority of eligible Americans will receive Economic Impact Payments within the next two weeks.”
If you do not see the money in your bank account by then, Mnuchin said you can go to IRS.gov to see “Get My Payment.” If you filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return and did not receive a stimulus payment, he said, make sure to have your tax return information available to use at the “Get My Payment” tool later this week.
The goal is to provide as much money via direct deposit as possible and avoid mailing paper checks during the pandemic. “We want to do as much of this electronically as we can,” Mnuchin said Monday.
Some consumers spotted the first direct deposits as early as Saturday; others started seeing more information as of Monday. The IRS even tweeted Saturday evening that the agency deposited the first Economic Impact Payments into bank accounts on Saturday.
“We know that many people are anxious to get their payments,” the IRS said via its tweet. “We’ll continue issuing them as fast as we can.”
Don’t expect to see words like “stimulus checks” or “recovery rebate” or “economic impact payment” on your bank statement. The wording being used is “IRS Treas 310.”
Avoid stimulus check scams
Remember, avoid scams. The IRS isn’t going to call you to make sure you got your check and then demand your bank account information over the phone. You’re not being asked to pay any fees for the stimulus money.
You’d get that money automatically deposited into your account if you’ve already given the IRS direct deposit information for tax refunds when you filed a 2018 or 2019 federal income tax return.
And you’d get that money automatically if you receive Social Security retirement or Social Security Disability Insurance benefits or receive Railroad Retirement benefits via direct deposit.
Taxpayers continue to have a slew of questions relating to the stimulus money, which is being released in waves. Here’s a look at some questions and answers:
When will I get my stimulus money?
When you actually get your money can vary. The first group would include people who have already given their bank account information to the IRS for the direct deposit of tax refunds on 2018 or 2019 tax returns.
In addition, Social Security beneficiaries who filed federal tax returns that included direct deposit information would be part of that first group.
The second wave of money could hit bank accounts as early as the week of April 20 for a group of people who receive Social Security benefits via direct deposit but may not make enough money to be required to file a federal income tax return in 2018 or 2019. Most in this group will not need to file any extra forms to receive this money.
