The IRS Says May 13 Is the Deadline to Sign Up for Stimulus Check Direct Deposit
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The last day to use the IRS Get My Payment app and receive your stimulus check via direct deposit is Wednesday, May 13.
The IRS portal's Get My Payment app launched on April 15 to help Americans out in two main ways: The tool allows users to track the status of their stimulus checks, and to provide the agency with their bank direct deposit information — so that the payments can be delivered in the fastest way possible.
The stimulus checks (or "Economic Impact Payments" in IRS lingo) are payments worth up to $1,200 per adult and $500 per eligible child that are part of Congress's $2 trillion CARES Act, passed to provide relief in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a recent IRS statement, midday on May 13 is a key deadline for anyone hoping to use Get My Payment to update their direct deposit info:
For many taxpayers, the last chance to obtain a direct deposit of their Economic Impact Payment rather than receive a paper check is coming soon. People should visit Get My Payment on IRS.gov by noon Wednesday, May 13, to check on their payment status and, when available, provide their direct deposit information.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the 12 p.m. deadline referred to Eastern Daylight Time — i.e. the time in Washington D.C. — or local time zones across the U.S. Either way, if you do miss the deadline, here is what the IRS says:
After noon Wednesday, the IRS will begin preparing millions of files to send to BFS (Bureau of Fiscal Services) for paper checks that will begin arriving through late May and into June. Taxpayers who use Get My Payment before that cut-off can still take advantage of entering direct deposit information.
How to Use the Get My Payment App for Stimulus Checks
The vast majority of people receiving stimulus checks don't need to use Get My Payment, or to take any action whatsoever to get their checks. In fact, the vast majority of stimulus check recipients have already received their payments. The IRS says that 130 million stimulus payments out of the total 150 million payments it expects to issue had already been sent in the first four weeks of the program.
As Money has previously reported, the IRS determines your eligibility for a stimulus check based on your 2018 or 2019 tax returns. If you are within the income threshold allowing you to get a stimulus check, the IRS would automatically send your payment via direct deposit, if it has that info on file from your previous return.
If the IRS has no bank account info on file for you and you are eligible for a payment, you are likely to get a paper check stimulus payment — unless, of course, you provide the IRS with your direct deposit details using the Get My Payment app.
If you are a taxpayer whose stimulus payment hasn't already been processed by the IRS, you can still provide the IRS with your direct deposit info to get your check sent directly to your bank account. But you must act quickly, because 12 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13, is the deadline for registering for direct deposit stimulus payments. Again, you don't necessarily need to do anything. If you miss the deadline and you're a taxpayer who is eligible for a payment, the Treasury Department will process your payment as a paper check.
Even after that deadline has passed, Get My Payment will still let you track your stimulus check. You can use the app to find out if and when your payment has been processed by the IRS, how much money you are eligible for, and what form of payment you are getting (paper check or direct deposit).
How to Get a Stimulus Check if You Don't File Taxes
While the Get My Payment app allows taxpayers to provide the IRS with their direct deposit information, a separate tool is available at the IRS portal for non-tax filers. Who might these people be? Often, they're individuals whose incomes are so low they aren't required to file taxes.
If you haven't filed taxes for 2018 or 2019 and are eligible for a stimulus payment, the IRS says you should use the Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here form. Using this form, you can register for a stimulus check payment, and add your bank account information so that the payment comes via direct deposit.
If you don't add any bank information, your payment will arrive in the mail as a paper check. Regardless of what kind of check you received, roughly two weeks after your payment is made you are supposed to get a letter in the mail from President Donald Trump, clarifying how much money you received and how the payment was issued.
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