All About the Stimulus Payments

Taxpayers are beginning to receive their $1,200 one-time Economic Impact Payment plus $500 for each dependent under the age of 17. Payments have begun hitting the checking accounts of taxpayers who included their bank’s direct deposit info on their 2019 and 2018 tax returns. Click here to check the status of your stimulus payment.

IRS launches new simple filing site

For those who have not filed a tax return for 2019, there is an opportunity to receive your stimulus payment a bit more quickly. There is a new IRS Free File filing site where you can enter your information. This will provide the IRS with the information necessary to issue your stimulus check via direct deposit. The alternative is waiting up to several months to get your stimulus payment via mail in the form of a physical check.

Consider using the simple file site to provide direct deposit information in the following situations:

• You have not filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return.

• You have not yet filed a 2019 tax return.

• You are not required to file either a 2018 or 2019 tax return. In this case, you will never receive your stimulus check unless you use this new simple filing form.

A special note for non-filing seniors

The Treasury has directed the IRS to provide payments to seniors based on Form 1099-SSA reporting as well as tax filings. This creates an added level of complexity for the IRS to figure out who to pay and who has already been paid.

While they are requesting SSA-1099 recipients without 2018 and 2019 tax returns to hold off filing a simple tax return, you may still wish to do so if you need your payment more quickly. Remember, this filing also protects your Social Security number from being used by identity thieves! Just be prepared to return an extra payment should your tax filing confuse their systems and create a double payment.

Remember, it is going to take some time for the IRS to process all these payments, especially when their data is constantly shifting as people continue to file tax returns, including their new simple filing form.