Stimulus Update: More Payments Go Out This Week
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How many stimulus payments has the IRS already sent and what’s happening this week?
Here's your money briefing for Tuesday, April 28th. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. The IRS has already sent out about 88 million stimulus payments to Americans. This week, another wave of payments is going out. In Wall Street Journal, tax reporter Richard Rubin says this time, the agency hopes to avoid the hiccups that have kept some people off its website.
They have updated it repeatedly and fixed some of the problems that people were having. So if you were frustrated with it a week ago, a week and a half ago, you weren't getting updates, you were getting error messages, I would encourage people to go back.
Coming up, he'll also have an update for anybody who's expecting a paper check instead of a direct deposit.
Keep an eye on your bank account. Millions more Americans are set to receive their stimulus payments from the IRS this week. In preparation, the government has been ironing out some kinks in the system.
Are the newest stimulus disbursements electronic or mailed as paper checks?
And Wall Street Journal tax reporter Richard Rubin joins us with an update. So Richard, are these still electronic payments that are being sent out?
So we're now at the phase where we've got both things happening at once. We have electronic payments going out, but we also have paper checks going out in the mail as well.
But is that process of sending out paper checks still much slower?
Yeah, it's going to be about $5 million or so per week, and that's going to take several weeks to a couple of months to get through.
Why are paper checks slower and how long will mailing take?
And so I definitely have heard from Wall Street Journal readers who have gotten their checks already or have been able to go onto the IRS website and see the date that their check is going to be mailed so they know to be on the lookout for it. So those checks are coming. They're happening. It's just really about the government's capacity to get them all out as quickly as possible.
For people who feel like their payment may be stuck in the system somewhere, how can they speed that up?
So the IRS's Get My Payment tool at www.irs.gov slash coronavirus is working.
How can I use the IRS 'Get My Payment' tool to check or speed up my payment?
And I know a lot of people have had frustration with it, and don't blame me, blame them. But I will say that they have updated it repeatedly and fixed some of the problems that people were having. So... If you were frustrated with it a week ago, a week and a half ago, you weren't getting updates, you were getting error messages, I would encourage people to go back once a day because they only update it once a day, but once a day to go back and check on your payment and update your information if you're able to do so.
So what is the general timeline for expecting payment when somebody enters their information at IRS.gov?
So if you enter it before the middle of a Tuesday, then you should get a notification the following the subsequent Saturday that the payment has been scheduled for electronic deposit. And then it would presumably show up within a few days, Wednesday, Thursday after that. So that's basically, you know, on the shortest turnaround from a Tuesday to the following Wednesday or Thursday, about eight or nine days from entry to money. It can be longer. If you enter it on Wednesday, then you won't get picked up until the following week's round of payments. So that's almost a little more than maybe two weeks before you can get it. And it may be, I've definitely heard from people who put in their direct deposit information, but they were sort of already in process to get a paper check.
What timeline should I expect after entering direct-deposit info at IRS.gov?
And so they went and put in their direct deposit information, checked the site again, and it said, oh, you're getting a paper check. Here's the date when it's being mailed. So Some of that is likely to happen to where people are trying to update direct deposit information and they get a check. But that's the general time frame that people should expect.
Now, there's also some new information for people who receive veterans benefits.
Yes. So there is a deadline coming up if you don't file tax returns, but you either get veterans benefits or SSI, Supplemental Security Income.
Do veterans or SSI recipients need to use the non-filers tool to claim child payments by May 5?
and you have a dependent child living with you, then it's important to go to the non-filers tool at irs.gov slash coronavirus and enter the information about that dependent because the IRS doesn't necessarily know that you have a child living with you.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
How many stimulus payments has the IRS already sent and what’s happening this week?
0:05–1:02
2
Are the newest stimulus disbursements electronic or mailed as paper checks?
1:02–1:30
3
Why are paper checks slower and how long will mailing take?
1:30–2:02
4
How can I use the IRS 'Get My Payment' tool to check or speed up my payment?
2:02–3:20
5
What timeline should I expect after entering direct-deposit info at IRS.gov?
3:20–3:52
6
Do veterans or SSI recipients need to use the non-filers tool to claim child payments by May 5?
3:52–4:47
Speakers
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