The IRS has sent out close to 167 million stimulus checks. That makes it worth around $391 billion. They included many first-time and even plus-up payments based on fresh calculations after many people filed their 2020 returns. And if you still haven’t received yours, you need to track it down.
The latest tranche included above 1.8 million payments worth more than $3.5 billion. If you have recently filed your 2020 returns, your check will be delayed. But you also need to calculate how long you should wait before taking the help of the IRS tracker and file a payment trace.
The Latest Stimulus Checks Go To Many First-time Tax Filers
The stimulus check usually comes in either as a direct deposit into your account or as a prepaid debit card or a paper check through the US postal service.
If you know the mode of your payment and the date it has been sent, you can make progress on when it has been dispatched, and when you should expect it. If you realize that your check has been delayed well beyond the normal period laid out for each form of payment, you should file for a payment trace.
The usual time taken for a direct deposit is around 5 days. For mail, the usual time is 4 weeks to arrive at a direct address. Mails sent to a forwarded address take around 6 weeks. For offshore checks, the normal time is 9 weeks.
The latest batch of payments of $3.5 billion included $1.6 billion in direct bank deposits and $1.9 billion as paper checks sent through the postal service. This batch includes 900,000 payments to families and individuals who filed a tax return for the first time and follow-up payments worth $1.6 billion.
Reasons Your Stimulus Check Might Get Delayed
Your stimulus check might get delayed for various reasons. The most obvious ones are clerical errors. If you detect one that might have affected your payment, you should either wait for a follow-up payment or claim an adjustment.
Social Security beneficiaries and veterans had their stimulus payments delayed for various reasons, including delays in their final records.
Your check might also be delayed in the mail. Or your payment was sent to a temporary or closed bank account. If you have not updated your residential address to the latest one, your stimulus check can go to the wrong address and get returned.
Your payment may also be less than expected if you have not given all details about the birth of a baby or the inclusion of any dependent.
Getting A Plus-up Payment
The plus-up payment is sent after the IRS receives any fresh information that could entail sending you a fresh check based on recalculation of your file.
Those filing the 2020 tax returns after they have received the third stimulus check could receive a stimulus check if there has been a decrease in their adjusted gross income in 2020.
The birth of a child in 2020, or the inclusion of new dependents will also make you eligible for a plus-up payment if you have already received a stimulus check.
Tracing Your Stimulus Check
If you feel that your payment has been delayed beyond the normal period, or has not been sent by the authorities, it is time you tracked down our payment.
The first step is to get the Get My Payment tracker. Though it won’t tell you the amount that has been sent, the tracker contains two important bits of information, the date your stimulus check was sent, and the mode of payment. You will also get an alert if there are any issues with your check, which you have to address.
The tracker is updated every day, but you will not get any update on the plus-up payments. The tracker will give one of the following messages that will help you on the next course of action.
If the Get My Payment shows ‘Payment Status’, it means that your stimulus check is on schedule and it will be sent on the date shown either through the postal service or as a direct deposit in your bank.
The message could also mean that though you are eligible for a payment, it is yet to be processed and so the payment date is also not available.
If the tracker shows ‘Payment Status Not Available’, it means that your payment hasn’t been processed yet, or you are not eligible for the payment.
The third possible message is “Need More Information. It means your returns were processed, but as the IRS doesn’t have your account number, your payment hasn’t been dispatched yet.
The message could also indicate that the postal service returned your stimulus check as they could not trace your address.
When Do You Need To Trace Your Payment?
You might have to trace your payment if you do not receive your stimulus check even after the stipulated number of days after it was sent.
You will also need to trace your payment if you receive a letter from the IRS giving details of your payment though you haven’t received the payment. This letter comes in a couple of weeks after a payment is sent.
Initiating A Payment Trace
You can initiate a payment trace by calling up the IRS at the toll-free number, 800-829-1954. You can either use the automated instruction or speak to the agent. You can also download and fill up Form 3911, Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund. The IRS can also send you this so that you can get the process started.
If the IRS finds that your check was not cashed, it will send a replacement check after canceling the original.
But if the missing check has been cashed, the Bureau of Fiscal Service will give you a claim package along with a canceled check. The BFS will review your claim and your signature and they send a fresh check accordingly. The process takes up to 6 weeks.
The Importance Of The Follow Up Letter: Notice 1444-C
This letter, signed by President Biden, contains details of the third stimulus check that you have received. It is proof of the payment sent by the IRS. You should base all your follow-up steps by referring to this letter.
The IRS has dispatched payments based on information in their records. But the IRS has till the end of the year to send the last of the stimulus checks. This gives the authorities sufficient time to follow up on the fresh tax returns filed by the extended date of May 17. They also have time for more plus-up payments to square up an account that was found to deserve more than the amount sent.
The IRS will also have time to issue fresh checks for people who have moved without updating their address, or people who do not have a permanent address.
But you have time till the tax season of 2022 to claim any amount missing from the third stimulus check as a refund.
