Weeks before President Biden was sworn in, he promised to get another round of stimulus checks out “immediately” when he took office. That turned out to be more difficult than he expected, but on Thursday, March 11th, Biden finally signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law, approving $1,400 Economic Impact Payments for tens of millions of Americans. Many of those payments were delivered via direct deposit on Wednesday, March 17th, but if you have yet to receive your money, you need to read the latest update from the IRS.
On Monday, March 22nd, the Internal Revenue Service announced in a news release that the next batch of direct payments began processing last Friday and have an official pay date on March 24th. The IRS is also sending out a large number of paper checks and prepaid debit cards this week, so if you don’t see a deposit in your bank account on Wednesday, you should start watching the mail closely. And you can always check the Get My Payment tool as well to see exactly when your payment is scheduled to arrive or if there are any issues.
“The IRS continues to send the third round of stimulus payments in record time,” said the IRS Commissioner, Chuck Rettig, on Monday. “Since this new set of payments will include more mailed payments, we urge people to carefully watch their mail for a check or debit card in the coming weeks.”
The news release goes on to explain that following the second batch of payments this week, additional payments will go out on a weekly basis going forward. Although some eligible Americans will receive checks or EIP Cards, “the IRS and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service leveraged data in their systems to convert many payments to direct deposits that otherwise would have been sent as paper checks or debit cards.”
Even if you have received direct deposits in previous rounds, the IRS warns that some people who might have been expecting a deposit will get a check or card instead. Around 90 million eligible Americans already received their direct deposits last week, and if you weren’t one of them, you need to watch your mailbox.
“Paper checks will arrive by mail in a white envelope from the U.S. Department of the Treasury,” the IRS explains in its news release. “For those taxpayers who received their tax refund by mail, this paper check will look similar, but will be labeled as an “Economic Impact Payment” in the memo field.”
In case you haven’t seen one of the paper checks in person, here is what it will look like when it arrives:
“The EIP Card will also come in a white envelope prominently displaying the seal of the U.S. Department of the Treasury,” the IRS adds for those who receive cards. “The card has the Visa name on the front and the issuing bank, MetaBank, N.A. on the back. Information included with the card will explain that this is an Economic Impact Payment. Each mailing will include instructions on how to securely activate and use the card.”
