IRS now says you may be waiting until your tax return for stimulus payment

After weeks of saying Americans will not have to do anything to receive their second stimulus payment, the IRS released new information saying some people that have not received their second stimulus payment may be waiting until they file their 2020 tax returns this year.

To see where your payment is, the IRS has a tool called “Get My Payment” that allows you to check. What’s new is the IRS issued new guidance Tuesday night that will show whether people will get their payments soon or whether they will have to request the money on their 2020 tax returns.

When searching your information on the “Get My Payment” tool the following results can show up for the status of your second payment:

• “Get My Payment” could show the direct deposit date for your payment and partial account information.
• “Get My Payment” could show a date when a physical payment was mailed out. IRS says it may take three to four weeks to get the payment. “Watch your mail carefully for a check or debit card.”
• If “Get My Payment” shows “Payment Status #2 - Not Available” then you will NOT receive a second payment ahead of filing your 2020 taxes. “Instead you will need to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 return,” the IRS said.

The IRS also said due to the speed required to issue the latest round of payments that some of them may have been sent to an account that is closed or no longer active.

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“If the second Economic Impact Payment was sent to an account that is closed or is no longer active the financial institution must , by law, return the payment to the IRS, they cannot hold and issue the payment to an individual when the account is no longer active,” the IRS said.

Due to preparations for the 2021 tax season and working to issue the second stimulus payments, the IRS said it is not reissuing the second payments if it was sent to the wrong account.

“Due to the compressed timeline, the IRS is unable to reissue and mail checks and instead encourages people to file their 2020 tax return electronically to claim and receive the Recovery Rebate Credit quickly as possible,” the IRS said.

The Recovery Rebate Credit will appear on Line 30 of the 1040 form used to file this year’s taxes.

Cox Media Group