The IRS is planning to create a new, online portal called “Where’s My Economic Impact Payment” where people can obtain details about their payment from the economic stimulus package and also provide their banking information.
Background
After the CARES Act passed through Congress, Treasury and the IRS had estimated there would be 171 million rebate payments under the Act and that 101 million of these would have to be paid by paper check (through the mail) unless the IRS received direct deposit information for those recipients before the check was sent.
There are three options for individuals who want to provide direct deposit information to the IRS before a paper check ends up in the mail:
- For any individuals required to file a 2019 federal tax return who have not done so already – File your 2019 tax return, including all requested bank information on the return
- For individuals who are not required to file a federal tax return – File a simple tax form and answer a few questions, including all requested bank information
- For individuals who already filed their 2018 or 2019 tax return without their banking information – Provide your banking info in a new online portal
Treasury has announced they’ll be starting to mail paper checks at the end of April, rather than the beginning of May as originally planned. About 5 million checks will be sent each week, so it could take up to 20 weeks for all checks to be issued. However, the Treasury will also simultaneously continue making direct deposits each week for individuals providing their banking information.
Details on the IRS Economic Impact Payment Portal
As of now, the IRS is planning to open the new portal for economic impact payments during the week of April 13th.
This portal will allow taxpayers (after authentication) to find the status of their economic impact payment. If no payment or check has been issued for them yet, they can input their banking information to ensure it comes as quickly as possible via direct deposit. If you’ve ever experienced the Where’s My Refund portal that taxpayers can use to track the status of their federal tax refund, this will be a similar setup. Aside from the above mentioned information, no other updates will be provided through the portal.
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