After direct deposit of funds, the IRS will continue the process with the mailing of paper checks and prepaid debit cards (EIP Cards).
Millions of beneficiaries of the third $1,400 stimulus check will be able to use the funds electronically deposited into their accounts as of Wednesday morning, March 17.
For some of these people, the delay in the release of the money days after it was deposited into their bank accounts has not pleased them, especially when the Biden Administration announced with “great fanfare” that the first payments would be available by the end of the week.
The detail that neither President Joe Biden nor his press team specified is that most of these deposits would actually be available for use by the recipients as of March 17, the official payment date, and not before.
Despite the above, in the list of shipments, this first group of recipients is the one that is expected to face the least inconvenience with the disposition of the money, beyond the issue with the “pending” or “interim” payment and the official release of the payments this Wednesday.
The next waves of mailings will take longer, with recipients of the stimulus check in the form of a debit card or EIP Card being among the last to receive the money.
Preliminary schedule for sending the third stimulus check
According to CNET, after processing the majority of stimulus checks through direct deposit, the IRS will begin mailing the paper checks next week, March 22, according to CNET.
Next, the agency will focus on mailing debit cards (EIP Card), possibly the week of March 29.
The White House has said they expect to have most of the stimulus checks processed by this month.
Regarding the profile of the beneficiaries who will receive the plastic payments, it has only been revealed that they correspond to the group of Americans who did not provide the IRS with their bank account information, as in the previous case of the paper checks.
The above timeline does not consider other possible problems or scenarios, such as the processing of payments through direct deposit into incorrect accounts or the change of residence of beneficiaries. Under the “American Bailout Plan” signed into law last Thursday after the President’s signature, the IRS and Treasury Department have until December 31 for the entirety of the third round payments.
It should be noted that the available distribution schedules can change at any time and many are estimates based on the time it took the federal government to distribute past rounds of stimulus checks.
What if you are not required to file taxes?
On the other hand, if you are not required to file taxes, you must do so this year to receive the payment. Through the document, you will be able to claim any payments due from previous stimulus payments through the “Refund Recovery Credit”.
The sooner you perform the procedure, the more likely you are to receive the check without delay.