The IRS sent payments to the bank account they had on file for you. If you filed your last tax return with the Assisted Refund (AR) option (meaning you paid the filing fee with your tax refund instead of out of pocket) then your tax preparer had to intercept your refund to subtract the tax prep fees. To do this, an account has to be created so that the refund has a place to go. Most tax preparers offer prepaid cards- which have a bank account and routing number attached to them in case you choose to use them for other things, like direct deposit of your employment paycheck, etc. If you opt in for a prepaid card, read the terms and conditions. The majority of them- if not all- do not charge a monthly fee is the card is not in use and will keep the card active.
If you did not opt in for the prepaid card and used direct deposit to your actual bank, that information is provided to the IRS.
When the EIP (Stimulus payment) is sent to a closed account, the law states the bank receiving it has to reject the payment and return it back to the IRS.
Due to the quick deadline and millions of people affected, it will take time to get all of those payments received back, printed, and mailed back out to their intended recipients. I understand your frustration, as my second stimulus was sent to a closed account, too. However, my closed account was a personal one.
My best advice, if you have not received your stimulus payment yet due to a closed account, log into the Get My Payment Tool once daily to see if there is an update. The IRS only updates it once per day, usually overnight. Also, if you don't have an account with USPS, sign up for one. It's free. You'll be able to utilize the "Informed Delivery" feature which tells you what mail and packages arriving to your address. It will show you a photo of letter size mail pieces. For anything larger it will just tell you a number for pieces arriving that they "do not have a photo for" in addition to the ones that did have a photo. Keep in mind, they do not only show you mail with your name on it. If there are other members in your household, it will show theirs too. Informed Delivery also has an app for both Android and iPhone. It's called "Informed Delivery." If your check is coming that day, you will be able to see the actual photo of it. Helps ease a tiny bit of the stress.
I hope this helps!
