Around 2.8M individuals and families should receive their stimulus checks in the coming weeks as the IRS continues to send out payments every week. This includes close to 8M plus-up or follow-up payments to those who did not receive the full payment the first time.
The total number of beneficiaries now stands at 169 million individuals and families or $395B in payments. That is around 88% of the $450B that is slated to be sent as part of the Economic Impact Payments as direct relief.
900,000 payments have gone out to those who have filed returns for the first time. The IRS had no records of these individuals and families.
Payments Include Plus-Up Stimulus Checks
The latest batch included 1.1M follow-up or plus-up checks. They are worth more than $2.5 billion. They are mostly people who had received the initial third stimulus check based on 2019 returns or previous records. Filing the 2020 returns has made them eligible for additional payments. 8 million people have received a plus-up payment this year.
Filing The 2020 Returns
Authorities have continued to appeal to people to file their 2020 tax returns. That is the easiest way, and also the most accurate method to calculate and send a stimulus check.
The Child Tax Credit payments are also linked to the 2020 tax returns.
Filing the returns ensures that people get the correct payment and all benefits. It also ensures that the stimulus checks reach the correct address or are credited to the right account.
Individuals and families can get details of their stimulus check on the IRS tool, Get My Payment. Or they can log on to the IRS.gov site to check the status of their payment.
Even if you miss out on any part of the payment, you can claim the same as Recovery Rebate Credit to be claimed with your 2021 tax returns to be filed in 2022.