How many people have received their third stimulus checks?
The IRS has been working to distribute the $1,400 direct payments since the American Rescue Plan was signed last month, with close to $400 billion sent out.
Despite the IRS having sent millions of stimulus checks out the door, some are still waiting to receive their payments. Here’s what we know so far about the ongoing distribution of the direct payments and how many the IRS has managed to send out in the last month.
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Who has already received their third stimulus check?
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced on 14 April that it had it had sent 159 million checks to eligible recipients.
As the agency winds down its check distribution effort it confirmed that the fifth batch of recipients would include nearly 850,000 payments for “eligible individuals for whom the IRS previously did not have information to issue an Economic Impact Payment but who recently filed a tax return”, as well as those who receive their payments through the Department of Veterans Affairs, and some Social Security beneficiaries.
These payments, in addition to the four batches sent in March and early April, total more than $376 billion in direct cash relief to millions of families and individuals.
Why do some get their checks more quickly than others?
Individuals who have set up direct deposits with the IRS when filing their taxes have typically been the first to receive their payments. The electronic payments used for bank transfers of this kind are much quicker than other distribution methods.
Before the American Rescue Plan was passed, the agency encouraged those eligible for stimulus checks to set up a direct deposit with the IRS if they wanted to receive their checks faster.
Evidence is clear that the public listened as “95% of Social Security beneficiaries were paid through electronically,” compared to 70% when the first checks were sent in spring of last year.
For those who still have yet to receive their third payment, the IRS could be missing the information necessary to process your payment because, according to their timeline, most payments should have been sent out by April 15. If you are still waiting, you should be able to check the status of your payment with the IRS’ “Get my Payment” tool.
What if I didn’t receive my first or second payment?
Unfortunately, many who were eligible to receive checks never got theirs. If this situation applies to you, there is a section to report the information to the IRS when filing your taxes. The sooner you file your taxes, the sooner you should see your stimulus check payment which should come with any tax refund that you are owed.
Additionally, if you received a check and the amount was lower than you expected, you can resolve this issue when filing your taxes this year.