How to Track Your Third Incentive Payment
After the third round of humanitarian payments was sent out this week, the IRS relaunched its Get My Payment tool over the weekend to help you track your payments . The agency usually describes its payment statuses in a gnomish manner in the instrument, so we’ll explain what they really mean.
How to use the Get My Payment tool
The tool validates the payment status of a third incentive totaling up to $ 1,400 for individuals, plus $ 1,400 for each dependent, and whether you qualify . (If you’re curious, the tool will no longer provide any information about the first two payments, as your only way to claim these funds is through a tax credit on your 2020 tax return .)
To confirm the status of your payment, you will be asked to enter your date of birth, social security number, mailing address, and zip code. The tool will not confirm the check amount, but will tell you if the payment has already been sent, the date it was issued and how it was sent (direct transfer, check in the mail, or EIP debit card ). If you do not receive confirmation that the payment has been sent, you will see the following statuses:
- Payment status not available : This means that the payment has simply not been processed yet, so you will want to check it later (the IRS only updates the tool once a day, so don’t waste time checking for updates again). But this status can also mean that you simply are not eligible for the payout, so please confirm if you are indeed eligible as the income thresholds are stricter in this final round of payouts.
- Additional Information Required : For some reason, the post office was unable to deliver the check or debit card to your address. According to USA Today , the IRS says the easiest way to update is to “complete your 2020 tax return with your current address if you haven’t already. Once we receive your current address, we will resend your payment. “
- Please try again later: You will get this status after three failed login attempts within 24 hours, which will also block your account for the day. Check your information again and try again the next day.
If you haven’t received your payment yet, don’t panic – they are delivered in batches and may take a little longer to arrive. If you have registered for a direct deposit with the IRS, you will likely see the payment being deposited the next week or so. You may even see the “pending review” status on the IRS tool, which means your incentive is pending confirmation from your financial institution and will be deposited soon. Expect paper checks to wait longer as they are expected to ship in the week of March 24 and EIP cards in the week of March 31, CNET reported .
Additional Information
The IRS is asking people not to call with questions about the tool, stating that their representatives on the phone have no information other than what is available on the IRS.gov FAQ, which you can find here .