In the early days of this year’s tax season, many people were surprised to learn that their stimulus checks were going to be distributed in different ways than expected. The IRS has since updated its information on the process, but if you haven’t received your payment yet and are wondering what might have happened to it, here’s what you need to know.
If you’re waiting on your stimulus check, it’s time to start checking in. The IRS has launched a new tool called “Get My Payment” that will let you see exactly when your money is coming in the mail. It’s not the same thing as checking your status online via their website (which can only happen once per year), but it’ll give you an idea of when to expect those sweet taxpayer dollars.
Stimulus Check: What Is IRS Thinking
The tool is only available online and requires that the user has already filed his or her taxes for 2019. Once logged into Get My Payment, users will be able to check their status for any refund owed and learn exactly when it’s scheduled for delivery.
The IRS is processing payments in batches. If you’re one of the lucky people to receive a paper check, your payment will be sent out in four separate payments: first half on April 27th, second half on May 18th, third half on June 15th, and the final half on July 11th.
The latest batch of payments were sent out to those whose social security numbers ended with 0-9 (the last letter of your SSN is not used). The next batch will be sent out to those whose SSNs end with A-Z—so if you want an early payment date this year, make sure your last digit is between 1 and 9!
The most recently updated numbers from the IRS show that they’ve processed more than 168 million total payments, including 143 million direct deposits, 24 million paper checks, and 1 million EIP cards.
