The FBI has come up with a way to tell when your third coronavirus stimulus check arrives, but it’s far from foolproof.
The Internal Revenue Service reopened its “Get My Payment” tool so that taxpayers can track the status of the $ 1,400 payments that started hitting bank accounts over the weekend.
The tool should be known to anyone who received one of the first two economic impact payments that Congress approved last year. It’s a simple online form that should tell you if your payment was processed and when to expect it – after entering your social security number, date of birth, street address and zip code.
But the latest iteration of the tool faced complaints from people who didn’t see details about when the much-needed money would arrive.
“Get My Payment” became a trending topic on Twitter as a taxpayer Monday morning tormented about the tool that spits out four dreaded words: ‘Payment status – not available’.
The IRS says there are three reasons you might see that vague message. It’s possible that your payment hasn’t been processed or the IRS doesn’t have enough information to send it to you.
It could also mean that you are not eligible for the check. Congress has tightened admission rules so that anyone who earns more than $ 80,000 a year does not receive any money. Full payments are still available to individuals with income up to $ 75,000 on their 2019 or 2020 tax returns.
While it may be difficult to wait, the IRS urged taxpayers to be patient. The “Get My Payment” tool is updated daily, so check back regularly if the payment status is not immediately available. Most checks should arrive automatically, and calling the IRS or your bank won’t speed up the process, officials say.
“While tax season is in full swing, IRS employees have once again been working around the clock to quickly provide relief to millions of Americans grappling with this historic pandemic,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in a statement last week.
If the IRS has your information on file, Get My Payment must tell you the date of the payment that will come by paper check or direct deposit, which is what most people will get.
The tool may show some taxpayers a “More information needed” message, which means that the postal service was unable to deliver your payment. Those people can use Get My Payment to send bank account information to the IRS.
The Get My Payment tool hasn’t been the only source of grief for taxpayers waiting for their stimulus money.
JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo customers hit the banks on social media after saying the money wouldn’t be available until Wednesday, even though the first checks arrived this weekend.
That’s because, according to the banks, March 17 is the official payment date for the first batch of checks. The IRS says some people may see the direct deposits before that date appear as ongoing or provisional payments.
Nor is this the first set of complaints about Get My Payment. The tool told a number of people earlier this year that their $ 600 incentive checks had been sent to unknown bank accounts as a result of a snafu involving tax firms.
When the IRS issued the first $ 1,200 checks last spring, some people who owed no taxes and got no refunds on their most recent tax returns were temporarily unable to speed up their payments before the FBI fixed a bug in the Get My Payment tool had resolved.