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Haven’t received your second stimulus check? Request a Payment Tracking from the IRS

Haven't received your second stimulus check Request a Payment Tracking from the IRS

If you have not received the second stimulus check, you must do this action to find out what happened to it. There are several reasons why the second stimulus check may not have reached you.

If you should have received it, but haven’t yet, you may need to contact the IRS to request a Payment Tracker to trace that money.

You should request a Payment Tracker if the Get My Payment tool shows that your payment was issued, but you have not received it within the following time frames:

-5 days from the date of deposit shown in Get My Payment and if your bank says it has not received it.
-4 weeks from when it was mailed to your home address.
-6 weeks from when it was mailed and you have a forwarding address on file at your local post office.
-9 weeks since it was mailed and you have an overseas address.

To request a Payment Tracker, you must call the IRS at 800-919-9835 or mail or fax a completed Form 3911. Find out where to mail or fax that form in the state where you live on the IRS website.

Note that you should not send in a Form 3911 if you have already requested a telephone tracing. And you should not request a Payment Tracking to determine if you are eligible for a check or to confirm the amount you should receive.

IRS does not allow updating information online to request stimulus check as direct deposit

This is not how the system currently works. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) clarified on its web page that, as part of the distribution process for the second round of stimulus checks, beneficiaries will not be able to update their information online to request that the payment be sent to them by direct deposit.

The process of distributing the “Economic Impact Payments” began at the end of December with the first bank transfers. Many of the recipients were not able to use the money until January 4, the official payment date, even though the funds were reflected as deposited in the account.

Those who received the money electronically are Americans who provided banking information earlier, some before the first stimulus check began to be distributed as part of last tax season.

The remaining recipients will have to wait for the second stimulus check to arrive in the mail as a paper check or in the form of a prepaid debit card.

The scope of “Get My Payment.”

In that regard the agency specified that the “Get My Payment” tool to track the status of their payment will reflect the bank account information the individual provided on their 2019 tax return, entered in the Non-Filers tool registration or through Get My Payment by Dec. 22, 2020.

The IRS.gov website further specifies that the data it uses to process payments is based on that provided to federal agencies such as the Social Security Administration, Veterans Affairs and Railroad Retirement Board.

Problems with temporary account deposits

In the case of stimulus check deposits in error into temporary accounts such as those provided by tax preparation companies (H&R Block and Turbo Tax) at the time the 2019 return was filed, the IRS indicated that they are taking corrective action to redirect the payments to the correct accounts.

“Some recipients may have directed their payment to the temporary bank account set up when their 2019 tax return was filed. The IRS and tax industry partners are taking immediate steps to redirect stimulus payments to the correct account for those affected. The IRS anticipates that many additional taxpayers will receive payments following this effort,” the IRS states on the website.

The IRS’s solution for claiming any economic stimulus payment due is to claim it through a “Refund Recovery Credit” on your 2020 tax return.

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