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Where’s My Stimulus Payment?
In mid-April, the IRS began issuing stimulus payments to qualifying individuals. This has come with a host of issues from people claiming payments have been sent to wrong accounts, being underpaid, and worst of all not receiving a payment at all. Let us break down some of these issues and how to navigate a resolution.
Eligibility
The IRS has listed eligibility requirements to obtain a stimulus payment. These requirements are as follows: U.S. Citizen or U.S. Resident who is not a dependent and has a work eligible Social Security number, gross incomes up to $75,000 for single filers, $112,500 for head of household, and $150,000 for married filing jointly.
Individuals will receive reduced payments for incomes up to $99,000 for single filers, $136,500 for head of households, and $198,000 for married filing jointly. This means if your income exceeds these amounts for your filing category, you will not receive an economic relief payment.
Those on Social Security retirement, disability benefits, Railroad Retirement benefits, Supplemental Security Income and VA Compensation & Pension are also eligible and will receive automatic payments. However, if you receive these benefits and have a qualifying child dependent, you will need to use the IRS non-filer tool in order to receive the additional $500.
Those who are not receiving these benefits and have low or no income must use the non-filer tool on IRS.gov to receive payment.
Amounts
Those eligible for a payment and who fall into incomes of up to $75,000 single, $112,500 head of household, and $150,000 married filing jointly will receive the following amounts: $1,200 for individuals and $2,400 for married filing jointly. Additionally, those with qualifying children on their tax returns will receive an additional $500 per child.
If you meet higher thresholds capping at $99,000 for single, $136,500 for head of household, and $150,000 for married filing jointly, your payment will be reduced by $5 per $100 above the $75,000/$112,500/$150,000 incomes.
Delivery
The IRS has issued the first few batches of payments via direct deposit and has also begun delivering checks through the mail for individuals who do not have direct deposit information on file.
This leaves several possibilities of where your stimulus check may be:
-You have not provided a direct deposit and your check has/will be sent to last address.
-The direct deposit information the IRS has on file is incorrect and payment was sent to the wrong account.
-Your 2019 tax return is awaiting processing.
If you have not received your stimulus payment and would like to update your direct deposit information, you can do so on the IRS’ Get My Payment tool.
If you used a tax service to obtain an advance tax refund or decided to deduct the tax preparation fee from you tax refund, the IRS may have an issue processing your refund and it may be delayed.
Tracking
You should receive a letter in the mail within 15 days of your stimulus payment being sent. This will be sent to the last known address provided to the IRS. Additionally, if you have not recently provided non-filer information, recently filed or need to file, and are otherwise eligible, you can check the status of your payment with the Get My Payment tool. Be advised that the tool is only updated once per day.
If you are not able to get the tool to work, there are several reasons this may be:
-You are not eligible.
-You recently filed or submitted your non-filer form.
-You still need to file taxes for either 2018 or 2019.
-You have been locked out.
Recap
-You are eligible for payment if you file single with an adjusted gross income of $99,000 or less, head of household with an AGI of $136,500 or less, or married filing jointly with an income of $150,000 or less.
-You are eligible for an additional $500 payment if you have qualifying child dependents on file.
-Those receiving Social Security retirement, disability benefits, Railroad Retirement benefits, Supplemental Security Income and VA Compensation & Pension are also eligible but must provide dependent information through the non-filer tool to receive the extra $500.
-You must file 2018 or 2019 taxes if you meet income requirements.
-If you are lower income and do not file taxes, you must provide your information to the IRS through the non-filer tool to receive payment.
-Payments may be delayed due to incorrect direct deposit information, wrong address information, or recently provided information.
-You can check the status of your payment using the Get My Payment tool.
If you still have questions you can check IRS website, or you can reach us during regular business hours. If you did not receive the stimilus check for any prior years you can always claim the recovery rebate credit on your 2020 or 2021 taxes.