Millions of Americans look forward to their second $ 600 stimulus check for every eligible adult and child. The IRS said Tuesday it had begun distributing checks by direct deposit that night, a process that will run until next week.
The tax agency added that it will send paper checks on Dec. 30 to people who do not have their bank account information registered with the IRS. But still, the timeline leaves many people wondering when exactly the check will arrive in their accounts, mostly because the IRS website to check payment status is not available.
The second stimulus check follows a rocky launch this spring of more than 160 million stimulus payments targeted by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Security Act (CARES). That relief effort, which led to $ 1,200 for each eligible adult and $ 500 for each eligible child, encountered several problems, such as late payment to people who did not have their bank account information registered with the IRS, as was the case with some Social Security recipients.
The IRS will use the same method to get the money to the people it made in the first round, said Mark Steber, Jackson Hewitt’s chief tax officer.
“If taxpayers received a direct deposit, they will do it again; if they received a check or debit card in the mail, they will do it again,” he said.
But the IRS’s “Get My Pay” website is currently offline. The agency said it expects the “Get my payment” tool to work again “in a few days,” though it did not specify a date.
That’s a problem, though the site should be available next week, according to the IRS statement, Steber noted. “The updated website should include information on the first and second stimulus payment,” he said.
This website allowed users this spring to provide or update their bank account details to the IRS. He also informed people when their checks would be disbursed to their accounts. But he also had problems. Some people reported getting it error messages such as “Payment status not available,” while others were blocked on the site.
“Payments are automatic”
On Dec. 29, the IRS said “payments are automatic” for people who filed a 2019 tax return, as well as for people who receive Social Security benefits, retirement benefits from the railway or beneficiaries of supplementary security revenue and veteran affairs who did not file a tax return.
The IRS added that people who successfully used the No Filers tool before November 21 (a site created to make sure people who don’t normally file tax returns will receive a payment) will automatically receive their second checks of stimulus.
Payments will not be taxed because they are not considered income earned, Steber said. But, he added, “taxpayers should keep IRS Notice 1444, which shows the exact amount they received, to reconcile their payments so that they can receive any additional amount on the IRS tax return. 2020 “.
How much will I get?
The IRS is sending $ 600 for each eligible adult and child – Not the $ 2,000 had been pushed by President Donald Trump.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday blocked a vote attempt on $ 2,000-approved stimulus controls approved by the House, but resurrected higher payments in a new bill that includes other bills. Trump’s wish list, including the repeal of Article 230, which protects social media companies from lawsuits.
While stimulus checks are unlikely to reach $ 2,000, the Treasury Department said it would be able to handle that possibility. “If additional legislation is enacted to provide for an increase in the amount, payments for economic impact that have been issued will be covered as soon as possible,” according to a Treasury statement of Dec. 29.
The second round of payments targets $ 600 for single people earning up to $ 75,000 and $ 1,200 to married couples earning up to $ 150,000.
Then the amount decreases for people earning above these thresholds and is completely eliminated for single people earning more than $ 87,000 and married couples earning more than $ 174,000. Children under the age of 17 will receive $ 600 each. Children as young as 17 are ineligible, as are dependent adults, such as college students and some people with disabilities who declare themselves dependent on the statements of their relatives.
There are more people eligible for the second round of stimulus checks than in the first, the IRS added.
“Under the previous CARES Act, joint returns of couples where only one member of the couple had a Social Security number were generally not eligible for a payment, unless they were military,” the IRS noted. “But this month’s new law changes and expands that provision.”
Under the new assistance bill, the U.S. government will allow mixed-use households of U.S. citizens with undocumented relatives to receive stimulus checks that denied them the spring of the first round of legislation and that provoked several lawsuits.