Stimulus checks sent to 127M Americans so far. How to check IRS status of your COVID-relief payment

The Internal Revenue Service sent out COVID-19 relief checks to another 37 million Americans under the second round of payments made under President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, the agency said Wednesday.

The payments, which total up to $1,400 each, were distributed mostly by direct deposits, along with paper checks and debit cards sent via mail. More than 90 million Americans were sent checks under the initial round of payments.

That brings the total disbursed payments from the latest stimulus package to about 127 million payments, worth about $325 billion. 

Like the first batch of payments, the checks went primarily to eligible taxpayers who provided direct deposit information on their 2019 or 2020 tax returns. That includes people who don’t typically file a return but who provided their information to the IRS last year through its online Non-Filers tool last year.

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How were the second batch of payments sent?

The second batch of aid includes about 17 million direct deposit payments, with a total value of more than $38 billion. These payments began processing on Friday, the IRS said. Some Americans may have seen the direct deposit payments as pending or as provisional payments in their accounts before Wednesday’s official payment date, the agency added. 

The Treasury Department has also mailed nearly 15 million paper checks totaling $34 billion to Americans who don’t receive the money by direct deposit, the IRS said. About 5 million prepaid debit cards totaling $11 billion were also sent out.

Paper checks and debit cards began processing on Friday and will continue to be sent by mail over the next few weeks, according to the IRS.

 (Photo: Getty Images)

Who qualifies?

The payments amount to $1,400 for a single person or $2,800 for a married couple filing jointly, plus an additional $1,400 for each dependent child. Individuals earning up to $75,000 get the full payments, as will married couples with incomes up to $150,000. Payments decline for incomes above those thresholds, phasing out above $80,000 for individuals and $160,000 for married couples. 

How do I check the status of my payment?

Get updates on the status of your next stimulus payment using the IRS “Get My Payment” tool. 

To use it, you’ll need to enter your full Social Security number or tax ID number, date of birth, street address and ZIP code.

For those who are eligible, the tool will show a “Payment Status” of when the payment has been issued and the payment date for direct deposit or mail, according to the IRS’s frequently asked questions.

Before you start entering your information hourly, the IRS says the tool “updates once per day, usually overnight” and that people should not call the IRS. “Our phone assistors don’t have information beyond what’s available on IRS.gov,” the agency says.

Are more payments coming?

Yes. The Economic Impact Payments will continue to roll out in batches to millions of Americans in the coming weeks via direct deposits, through the mail as paper checks or debit cards, the IRS says. 

What about Social Security beneficiaries?

Many federal beneficiaries who filed 2019 or 2020 returns or used the Non-Filers tool last year were included in the first two batches of payments, if eligible, according to the IRS.

For federal beneficiaries who didn’t file a 2019 or 2020 tax return or didn’t use the Non-Filers tool, the IRS said it is working directly with the Social Security Administration, the Railroad Retirement Board and the Veterans Administration to obtain updated 2021 information to “ensure that as many people as possible” are sent automatic payments. 

Social Security and other federal beneficiaries will generally receive this third payment the same way as their regular benefits, according to the agency.

More information about when these payments will be made will be provided on IRS. gov as soon as it becomes available, the IRS said. 

Contributing: Kelly Tyko, USA TODAY

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