Where’s My Economic Stimulus Check? If You’re Waiting, Read On
Since the economic stimulus checks started going out via direct deposit and now also paper check, I have had a lot of questions from people who thought they would receive their check already based on the IRS published schedule, but have not. I did some digging on the IRS website to try and find answers and reasons why you might not have received your check yet, and if you hadn’t, when you might receive it. I don’t have all the answers, but this might give people a place to start at least.
1. How far before April 15th did you file?
- Generally, you need to have had your return processed by the IRS before April 15th to receive your economic stimulus check by the date on the IRS schedule. If you filed close to April 15th, your return may not have been processed in time. Your economic stimulus check should arrive a minimum of 6 weeks after you filed your taxes - if you are expecting a refund, the economic stimulus will generally arrive 1-2 weeks after you receive that.
2. The IRS calculator that says when I’ll get my stimulus gives me an error or can’t tell me when it will arrive. Why?
- The calculator will only tell you when your stimulus payment will arrive after the IRS has scheduled it to arrive. So if the IRS hasn’t scheduled it yet (usually about a week or so in advance of it arriving) the calculator will give you an error. So not as useful as I thought it was when I found it…
3. I got a Refund Anticipation Loan through my tax preparer, or authorized my preparer to take their fees out of my refund. Will I get my stimulus via direct deposit?
- No, it will be issued via paper check. The IRS doesn’t want to send your stimulus payment to your tax preparer (the electronic account information they have on file).
4. I didn’t get as much as I expected. Why?
- If you had no tax liability in 2007, the maximum you will receive is $300 for single or $600 for married filed jointly (not including dependents). If you had tax liability but did not receive the payment you thought you would, and you did not owe back taxes or other government liabilities, use this economic stimulus calculator to see if you can find the discrepancy.
UPDATE: Another question from the comments:
5. I owed taxes and paid through direct debit. Will my stimulus be deposited to that same account or do I have to wait for a paper check?
- According to one of the FAQs on the IRS website, the account information used for an incoming direct debit payment to the IRS cannot be used as the account information for the direct deposit of the stimulus payment. You will receive a paper check. If you filled out the direct deposit info on your return as well as the direct debit info, then the stimulus payment would be direct deposited into the direct deposit info account (not all tax preparation software will allow you to do this).
These are the main questions I have personally been getting - if you have a different question feel free to ask in the comments and I will try to find the answer, or look at the IRS’s Economic Stimulus Frequently Asked Questions for help. I hope this information is helpful to those of you out there still looking for your payment!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Related entries for your reading pleasure:
May 15th, 2008 at 7:05 am
I thought ours was coming tomorrow but I am STILL getting an error on that page, so I guess not.
May 15th, 2008 at 9:28 am
FYI - some people are not getting as much as they expected. According to a news article I read today, some people aren’t being credited the money for their children.
If you did not qualify for the child tax credit normally given before the stimulus plan was put into effect, you (or your tax preparer) did not check the box indicating the tax credit applied.
If the box isn’t checked, you don’t get a credit for your child. “According to the IRS, that’s why Shannon (the guy in the article) did not receive the $600. The IRS did tell Shannon they would credit him next year for that amount.”
I know this happened to us as well - we were expecting $1500 and we got $1200. Fortunately, we hadn’t already “spent” the money in anticipation.
May 15th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Oh it is working! I was entering the wrong number of exemptions doh! I should get it tomorrow but it looks like not for the correct amount - $1200 instead of $1800.
May 15th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Or maybe $1200 is correct…hmmm…
May 15th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I’m not sure if anyone knows, but I owed money this year and paid by electronic debit from my checking account. As it was electronic, should I expect to receive a direct deposit to this account? Or will I receive a paper check?
Thanks!
May 15th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Leilani - I found through some digging around on the IRS site that you will get your payment via paper check. I’m going to update the above post with that info and their explanation.
May 15th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
I was wondering about this, thanks for sharing the info.
May 15th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
So, I was lame, there was a problem with my husbands W-2 (he lost it) and we filed two weeks late. Now, we were due a refund, so no penalties will be coming our way. But I expect I will have to wait much much longer for my rebate and likely my refund too. I was just curious about how much longer.
I realize thats a tough question, I have searched the FAQ and all I can tell is that I will get it at least by October.
May 15th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
@sara - as far as I can tell, you would probably get the stimulus payment about 2 weeks after you get your refund. According to the IRS at least.
May 15th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
I really enjoy your site. We owed this year due to my husband’s self-employed status. We paid a partial amount when we filed, and set up a payment plan with the IRS for the rest. We are wondering, will the IRS will send us our full amount, or subtract what we owe first and then send us the rest?
May 16th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Thanks for the info!
I love your site!
May 21st, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I had my refund deposited to two separate accounts. As of right now, it looks like that caused it to be processed as a paper check instead of direct deposit. Is that how it is supposed to work?
May 27th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
i dont have my tax forms… so i cant use the calculator.. is there another way i can find out how much im getting?
June 4th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
So if I owe more than my stimulus check in back taxes I get no stimulus check.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:52 am
I recieved the letter saying I was getting my check no later than May 29, well it is now 5 weeks late. What is going on????