The third stimulus check was different from the previous two in terms of the speed at which the Internal Revenue Service reacted. It sent out millions of payments within days of President Biden signing the bill. The plan was to send out the payment in the shortest time possible to the maximum number of residents as they struggled with the economic setback forced upon them by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The majority of the payments were through direct transfer of the stimulus check amount to the bank account of the beneficiaries. But a part of the payment went out through paper checks to the postal address of the beneficiaries which they had included in their income tax returns. It was in such cases that there were delays caused by the sudden spurt in postal traffic faced by the US Postal Service.
There was also a situation where the IRS did not have the correct address or the bank account of the beneficiaries. In such cases, the payments went out to the wrong addresses or bank accounts and were returned to the IRS. A fraction of the payments went out to the wrong accounts.
People had to resort to payment trace to get their accounts. For the third stimulus check, it was worth visiting the online portal of the IRS designed to track the status of the 2021 payment. Generally, it told filers when the stimulus check would be processed and how to receive it.
For instance, as a paper check in the mail. If the Get My Payment tool did not give your decipherable information or says your stimulus check has been sent, but you have not received it, you may eventually need to request a payment trace or file for a recovery rebate credit.
For the initial two payments, if cannot find the letter sent by the IRS, you had to create a profile online with the IRS to get a glimpse of your status. For the problems, you may need to issue a payment trace or file for a recovery rebate credit even if you do not normally submit a tax return.
If the IRS sent out a payment date but you did not receive your payment by that date, it is because the IRS may need more information. Citizens had to check the Get My Payment tool once again and if the report indicated “Need More Information,” this would indicate that your stimulus check has been returned because the postal service was unable to deliver it to your address.
Check If You Are Still Owed A Stimulus Check
If you think you are still due a relief payment or a tax rebate, there are ways in which you can track it. In 2022, over 20 state administrations stepped in to help out residents with stimulus checks, tax refunds, and other measures that included gas and transit cards, and sales tax waivers. This was intended to overcome the negative earnings faced by residents as the rise in overall prices of all goods and services was way more than any increase in wages.
The post-pandemic period saw a healthy overall rise in wages at around 3.5%. But at the same time, inflation touched the 9% mark for the first time since November 1981 and stayed around the 8.5% mark through 2022.
Most states sent out the inflation relief stimulus check in the first two quarters of last year. Most stimulus check programs that were initiated by the state governments have been completed. But a few states timed their payments for the last quarter and the festive season.
Such states continue to send out stimulus checks to residents. They include California and Colorado, two of the biggest state stimulus check payment schemes. Some states have also announced some form of fresh stimulus check for 2023. For instance, New Jersey will wait until spring before it begins issuing its version of the payments from its property tax program worth $2B.
Other states have issued payments under various financial heads. Alaska for instance issues a Permanent Fund Dividend each year that allows them to share their oil and mineral wealth revenues with state residents. The soaring prices of oil have enabled residents to reap rich dividends from the state. They received a special energy relief check for 2022 that was worth $650. The dividend fund stimulus checks soared to $3,284 for 2022, which was a massive increase of 195% over 2021 payment figures.
The stimulus checks from the Last Frontier state started going out only in the third week of September last year though the bill was passed long back. Some of the payments are still going out to eligible residents.
The stimulus checks issued by the Golden State have been among the most generous and also had the most coverage. The Middle-Class Tax Rebate is also the most widespread of the payments. This is the third round of the state stimulus check and covers close to 60% of the state population comprising around 23 million residents.
Residents will receive between $200 and $1,050 as a one-off stimulus check depending on their Adjusted Gross Income as reported in their 2020 state income tax returns. The returns should have been filed before the extended last date of October 17, 2021, for the filers to be eligible for the payments.
The maximum amount of $1,050 will go out to married couples filing joint and who have a combined AGI of less than $150,000 and also the inclusion of at least one dependent in the 2020 state income tax returns.
Over 95% of the payments were completed by 2022, but the remaining payments are being delayed. The first deadline was on January 14 this year and that has been pushed back til the end of February 2023.
Residents with an individual up to $250,000 received the Middle-Class Tax Rebate stimulus check. For married couples filing jointly, the amount is $500,000.
Residents of Colorado who have filed their state income tax returns for 2021 before June last year have received a $750 stimulus check under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, 1992 amendment. For joint filers, the payment was double at $1,500.
