WASHINGTON—In the second big wave of stimulus payments, the IRS will send money over the next few days to people who recently provided their direct-deposit information.
These payments will likely go to two groups: One set is tax filers who successfully used the Internal Revenue Service website’s “Get My Payment” tool to add bank information by midday on April 22, according to the IRS. The other set is people who don’t file tax returns but who receive Social Security or Social Security disability benefits, according to the Treasury Department.
The payments could follow the pattern that occurred when the government sent the first round of direct deposits two weeks ago. Then, the Treasury notified banks of the coming payments on a Friday. Some people saw the money in their accounts within hours. Nearly all the payments had arrived by the following Wednesday. This time around, that would mean payments arriving by April 29.
The IRS hasn’t released amounts, but this round of payments will put the $292 billion program of one-time payments—$1,200 per adult and $500 per child—well beyond its halfway point. As of April 17, the IRS had sent out 88 million payments totaling $158 billion, according to data released Friday.
People who receive Supplemental Security Income or veterans benefits and don’t file tax returns should get their payments by early May.
That is all much faster than the pace of payments for the previous round of stimulus checks in 2008.
“The IRS, Treasury and partner agencies are working nonstop to get these payments out in record time to Americans who need them,” Chuck Rettig, IRS commissioner, said in a statement Friday.
The rest of the money may be delivered more slowly. Those who can give the IRS their direct-deposit information will place themselves in future rounds of electronic payments. The IRS is expected to gather the data each Wednesday and send it the next day to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the office that makes payments, according to Jesse Solis, a spokesman for Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee. The payments would then reach individuals no later than the following Wednesday.
But those who receive paper checks could wait for up to several months, because the government’s check-printing capacity is limited to about 5 million a week or a bit more.
Some payments may be made on debit cards, according to the Treasury. People who have questions will have trouble reaching the IRS, which is urging people not to call and is warning taxpayers that it isn’t opening mail right now.
Those who are still waiting for the payments have complained about error messages on the IRS website, problems with returns prepared by tax-preparation companies, payments to deceased individuals and missing money for children.
The IRS said it is aware of those problems and is trying to address them. Some taxpayers who had had trouble with the IRS website said Friday that it is now working for them.
