The meaning of ‘Payment Status Not Available’ on stimulus check
About 80 million Americans received their stimulus checks last week, slightly more than half of the country's 150 million taxpayers. That means millions are still waiting.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) started sending the stimulus check to about 80 million Americans last week, that means half of the country's taxpayers received $1,200 and an extra $500 for each dependent. This means that millions are still waiting for their money as part of the $2.2 trillion stimulus package intended to help Americans during the coronavirus outbreak.
If you are among the million of Americans who haven’t received the stimulus check, the IRS created a new online portal called “Get My Payment,” which allows you to track the status of your payment and update your direct deposit information.
Due to the large amount of people checking at the same time the online server is constantly crashing or not working making it very hard for them to check the status of their payment. Millions of Americans are receiving a message saying: “Payment status not available.”
You could be getting this message for several reasons
If you recently filed your 2019 tax return, the IRS is processing your tax filing. That could result in a "Payment status not available" response from the website, the tax agency said on its website.
Also some people do not qualify for the stimulus check. You may not have a Social Security number, are not a U.S. citizen or resident, or you earned too much income in 2018 or 2019. If this is a possibility, that’s why you received the message
To qualify for a stimulus check, you must have filed a 2018 or 2019 federal tax return and earned below a certain adjusted gross income threshold. There is no minimum adjusted gross income. However, the maximum adjusted gross income is $99,000 for individuals and $198,000 for married/joint filers.
The IRS has another online tool for Non-Filers, which are taxpayers who are not required to file a tax return. If you added your direct deposit information through this section of the IRS website, then it’s possible the IRS has not yet processed this request. The IRS says it’s updating the Get My Payment tool daily, so you can check back for updates to determine if your information has been processed.
IRS recommends to keep checking the online portal
Whether the reason is one listed above or another reason, the IRS says it is updating its Get My Payment portal on the IRS website on a daily basis. If you qualify for a stimulus check, the IRS also will send you a letter with information on how to contact the IRS to correct any issues with your stimulus check.