While millions of payments have already gone out, there are many that have not filed taxes and are federal beneficiaries that are still waiting for their stimulus payments. Here is the latest on when you can expect to receive your $1,400 stimulus payments.
Stimulus Payments Going Out to Federal Beneficiaries
Link: IRS Information for Federal Beneficiaries
Last year, the first stimulus round took a while to get to SSI, VA, and other federal beneficiaries. But, since the IRS and the other federal departments have some experience now, this is going much quicker. Here is what the IRS has to say about the latest round of stimulus checks.
Social Security Recipient Information
The IRS “anticipates payments will begin to be issued this weekend to Social Security recipients and other federal beneficiaries who do not normally file a tax return, with the projection that the majority of these payments would be sent electronically and received on April 7.”
This is happening now since the IRS has received all the required information from the Social Security Administration. They have finished going through all the records to determine who is eligible for the stimulus payment. Most Social Security recipients who are non-filers should expect to receive on April 7. For those that do not receive it then, you should receive your money by the middle of April.
You can use the Get My Payment Tool to check the status of your payments but it will not show the information for Social Security recipients before this weekend.
VA Recipient Information
The IRS is still working on getting all the required information from the Veterans Affairs. They are reviewing this information and they estimate that the non-filers who are VA recipients will receive their stimulus payments by the middle of April. The Get My Payment tool will be updated for VA recipients in the next week or so.
For Federal Beneficiaries with Dependents
Even if you are not required to file, any federal beneficiary that has dependents should file a 2020 tax return with that information so the payments can be sent for dependents as well.
For most of the other recipients, you will receive the payments automatically. This will come in the form of direct deposit/electronic payment, check in the mail, or prepaid debit card.
Tracking Your Stimulus Payment
What to Look for in the Mail
So, this is what you need to look for if you are getting a prepaid debit card.
The Visa debit cards are issued by MetaBank.
A sample image of the envelope that will be delivering your stimulus debit card
The check will be a normal check from the IRS.
Track Your Payment
Remember that this tool will not show the information for SSI recipients before the weekend and not for VA recipients until next week or so.
Now that you know how the money is going out, the next step is finding out how your payment is/did go out. The trick for that is going to the IRS Get My Payment website. This will give you all the information about how your payment was made and when it went out.
To find out for sure, click this link to go to the IRS status tool. What you will need is your social security number, your birthdate, your address, and zip code. Right after entering that, it will give you a status message about your money. Below is what I saw with my status.
Status Messages
If you do not see it saying that the money will be deposited, you can check back each day as this tool is updated once per day. It will tell you if the money has been scheduled for deposit, a check sent out, or a debit card sent. If you do not recognize the bank account number shown, you will have to wait a little longer. The money will bounce back and you will eventually be issued a check or prepaid debit card.
Remember that the tool above will not let you make any changes to how you receive your payment. So, what the IRS has on file will be what they attempt to send it to.
Payment Status:
- A payment has been processed, a payment date is available and payment is to be sent either by direct deposit or mail. Note: mail means you may be issued an EIP Card or a check.
or
- You’re eligible, but a payment has not been processed and a payment date is not yet available.
It will not show the amount of your 2021 Economic Impact Payment.
Payment Status Not Available: We haven’t yet processed your payment oryou’re not eligible for a payment.
Need More Information: Your payment was returned to the IRS because the Postal Service was unable to deliver it. Only people who get this message can use the tool to give us bank account information.
Get help with this tool in Get My Payment Frequently Asked Questions.
Track Your Payment in the Mail
If you see that your stimulus payment was sent out as a check or debit card, the next step is to set it up to track your money through the USPS. They have a handy tool that makes this easy.
Sign-up for the USPS Informed Delivery system
Link: Sign-Up for the Free Informed Delivery by USPS
While the Get My Payment tool can tell you when a check was mailed, it does not give you a delivery date. Also, there are some people that have had their checks stolen out of their mailboxes.
This great USPS tool is called Informed Delivery by USPS. This is a free service that you can setup that will send you an e-mail each weekday morning with the mail that you will be receiving. It delivers electronically a greyscale image of the front of each envelope that is set to be delivered to you.
Get a scan of all your mail to be delivered
This is accomplished through the automated scanning equipment the USPS uses for mail processing. Any mail that would go through this automated process will be sent as an image to your e-mail.
You can sign-up easily enough and verify your identity. But, it will take 3 business days for this process to be complete so if you do it today, you likely won’t have any notifications delivered before Wednesday or Thursday.
How Much Will Your Check Be For?
