The Internal Revenue Service announced today that most Social Security, SSI and RRB benefit recipients who don’t file a tax return should get their $1,400 Round 3 stimulus payments electronically by April 7, while stimulus payments for Veterans Affairs beneficiaries who don’t file a tax return could be sent out by mid-April.
These folks—among the neediest of Americans—have been waiting for their stimulus payments while millions of Americans who file tax returns have gotten theirs already. “We know how important these payments are, and we are doing everything we can to make these payments as fast as possible to these important individuals,” IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said in the announcement.
Why the delay? Making these automatic payments to federal beneficiaries involves a complex, multi-step process to handle recipient data from the other agencies, the IRS says. It needed updated information this month due to regular changes in the population who receive federal benefits. The Social Security Administration delivered the necessary files to the IRS on March 25th—after the House Ways and Means Committee demanded it. The IRS says it is still reviewing data received for VA benefit recipients.
For Round 1 stimulus payments last year, folks who get these federal benefits got payments within four to six week after the CARES Act that authorized the payments was signed into law. This time, the IRS projects it is on track to deliver Round 3 stimulus payments to federal beneficiaries at the same or faster speed.
The delivery of stimulus payments is a huge undertaking that the IRS is tasked with in the midst of tax season. Last week, the IRS announced it had delivered 127 million stimulus payments worth $325 billion. In its latest weekly update of 2021 filing season statistics for 2020 tax returns as of March 19, the IRS says that it has received 76.1 million individual tax returns and processed 67.7 million of those.
Note: If you got Round 1 and Round 2 stimulus payments, the form of payment might be different this time around. More people are receiving direct deposits. If you get a payment by mail, you could get either a paper check or an EIP Card.
To check on the status of your Round 3 payment, use the IRS Get My Payment tool. You need to enter your Social Security number, street address and zip code. If you’re looking for the status of Round 1 and Round 2 payments—you’ll need that information for filing your 2020 tax return—check your pile of tax-related mail for IRS Notices 1444 and 1444-B or create an IRS online account.
The Get My Payment tool should be updated for Social Security, SSI and RRB beneficiaries this weekend (April 3, 4). VA beneficiaries should check later.
Further reading: Tax Refund Scammers Target College Students