With the third round of relief payments being sent out this week, the IRS relaunched its Get My Payment tool over the weekend to help you track yours. The agency is characteristically gnomic in the descriptions of their payment statuses within the tool, so we’ll clarify what they actually mean.
How to use the Get My Payment tool
The tool confirms the payment status of a third stimulus, totaling up to $1,400 for individuals plus $1,400 for each dependent, and whether you qualify. (In case you’re wondering, the tool will no longer provide any information on the first two relief payments, as your only option to claim those funds is through a tax rebate in your 2020 tax return).
To confirm your payment’s status, you will be asked to enter your date of birth, Social Security number, street address, and ZIP code. The tool won’t confirm the amount of the check, but it will tell you whether the payment was already sent, the date it was issued, and how it was sent (direct deposit, mailed check or EIP debit card). If you don’t get a confirmation that a payment has been sent, you will see these statuses:
Payment Status Not Available: This means the payment simply hasn’t been processed yet, so you’ll want to check back later (the IRS only updates the tool once a day, so don’t waste your time repeatedly checking for an update). But this status could also mean that you simply don’t qualify for a payment, so confirm whether you’re indeed eligible, as the income thresholds are more restrictive in this latest round of relief payments.
Need More Information: For whatever reason, the post office was unable to deliver a check or debit card to your address. Per USA Today, the IRS says the easiest way to update is to “file your 2020 tax return with your current address, if you haven’t already done so. Once we receive your current address, we will reissue your payment.”
Please try again later: You will get this status after three failed attempts to log in within 24 hours, which will also lock your account for the day. Double-check your information and try again the next day.
If you haven’t received your payment yet, don’t panic—they are being delivered in batches and might need a little more time to arrive. If you’re signed up for direct deposit with the IRS, you’re likely to see the payment deposited in the next week or so. You might even see a “pending” status in the IRS tool, which means that your stimmy is waiting to be cleared by your financial institution and will be deposited soon. Expect to wait longer for paper checks, however, as they are expected to be sent the week of March 24, followed by EIP cards the week of March 31, according to CNET.
More information
The IRS is asking people not to call with questions about the tool, stating that their phone representatives don’t have information beyond what’s available on IRS.gov FAQ, which you can find here.