By Michelle Jones. Originally published at ValueWalk.
If you’ve been trying to find out the status of your IRS stimulus check, you’re not alone. It’s unclear how many people are still waiting for their check or prepaid debit card, but estimates suggest as many as 9 million people still haven’t received it.
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Meanwhile, debate over a second round of coronavirus stimulus checks continues on Capitol Hill.
IRS stimulus check status: 9 million people still waiting
A spokesperson for the U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday that many Americans still haven’t received their payments. The payments are based on 2018 or 2019 tax returns and government benefits. The IRS received approximately 153 million tax returns from individuals in 2018.
An additional 15 million Americans don’t have to file taxes because they don’t make enough money. Based on these numbers and the 159 million payments the Treasury has sent out, approximately 9 million Americans may still be waiting for their coronavirus stimulus checks.
So far more than $267 billion in aid for households has been sent out as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was passed in March. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement that they have delivered 159 million stimulus payments in “record time.” He said the last time a similar effort was made, it took more than two months just to make 800,000 payments.
Of the payments that have been made so far, 120 million were sent via direct deposit, 35 million were issued as paper checks and 4 million were sent as prepaid debit cards.
What to do if you haven’t received your check yet
If you haven’t received your IRS stimulus check or prepaid debit card, the first thing you should do is check the status of it with the agency’s Get My Payment tool here. The Treasury Department also issued a statement for eligible Americans who haven’t received their economic impact payments yet.
If you don’t file taxes and are checking the status of your IRS stimulus check, you will probably have to provide more information to the agency using the non-filers tool here. The Treasury Department advised that non-filers who haven’t received their checks to use that tool. It will enable the to provide their personal information to the IRS so the agency will send them their checks. The tool will be available until Oct. 15. Anyone who uses it by that date will receive their check or debit card by the end of the year.
If you file taxes but haven’t received your check yet and believe you are eligible for one, you will have to wait until you file your 2020 tax return to receive the credit. This could happen if your 2020 income is lower than your 2018 and 2019 income. The Treasury Department said if you need your economic impact payment sooner than next year, you can call the IRS’ stimulus check line at 1-800-919-9835. The agency warned that call volumes are high, so you should plan to have plenty of time to wait and speak to a representative.
If you think the amount of the payment you received was wrong, then you will be able to claim the additional amount as a credit on your 2020 tax return. This could happen if the IRS used your 2018 tax return because your 2019 return hasn’t been processed yet.
If you have dependents and didn’t receive the extra $500 per dependent, you will again be able to claim the extra tax credit on your 2020 return.
The post IRS stimulus check status: What to do if you’re still waiting appeared first on ValueWalk.
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