There is a good chance that you’ve seen chatter across social media that the first coronavirus stimulus checks have been distributed today, and an even higher chance that you’re now one of the people wondering, “Hey…where is MY money?” We feel that — we’re in the same boat — but don’t start freaking out and calling/emailing/@-ing the IRS just yet. The money is coming, and we don’t mean in the Uncut Gems, Howard Ratner kind of way. In fact, according to the House Committee On Ways & Means, 60 million Americans will see their stimulus checks deposited in their account sometime this week, or the next… or the next. After what the IRS hopes is a 10-day process, a second round of payments will be doled out to Social Security beneficiaries.
Not having a clear answer is frustrating, which is why the IRS is planning on launching a tracking tool similar to its “Where’s My Refund?” tax-refund feature called “Get My Payment,” which should be operational by April 17th. So if you don’t get paid by this week, you’ll at least know when you’ll get paid. But let’s be real — if the tracking tool is anything like “Where’s My Refund?” at the most you’ll get is a notification that your payment is “processing.”
When #Stimulusdeposit is trending but your bank account balance is still $9 pic.twitter.com/kAejbS8B7D
— h (@_hannahbanana14) April 13, 2020
Me checking my bank account for the 10th time in an hour #Stimulusdeposit pic.twitter.com/Qlm3vddgMx
— Yewande’s Hairline (@TELme_aboutit) April 13, 2020
idk what made me so special to be in the first wave of recipients but thankyou
#Stimulusdeposit pic.twitter.com/vlUuwONhRv
— kay thee pony
(@x_LilFunSized) April 13, 2020
If you filed for your 2018 or 2019 taxes and authorized for direct deposit, it’s pretty safe to assume you’re going to see that $1,200 deposited this month. It could be today, tomorrow, anytime this month really. If your direct deposit information has changed since filing, the Get My Payment portal will allow you to update your information so that you don’t have to wait for a paper check, which won’t be sent out until the beginning of May. Non-filers and other low-income individuals will also be able to enter banking information to receive a payment through the portal — a remedied area of criticism from when the relief bill was first announced.
According to the House Committee On Ways & Means, paper checks will be issued by the week of May 4th and can take up to 20 weeks to fully be distributed. Luckily, low income Americans can expect their checks to arrive more quickly, as they’ll be issued in “reverse adjusted gross income,” with the first checks going out to the people with the lowest income.