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Can I track my stimulus check from coronavirus relief bill?
Posted Apr 07, 2020
By Karin Price Mueller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

As part of the CARES Act, eligible Americans will get one-time stimulus payments to help them get through financial crises during the coronavirus pandemic.

The questions everyone is asking: When will I get my stimulus check? Can I track my stimulus check?

For starters, the exact moment you will receive your check is unclear.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnunchin previously said April 17 would be the earliest date, but since then, the Washington Post obtained an internal IRS draft document that said payments would start as early as April 9 — a week earlier than expected.

The Treasury Department told the Washington Post it expects 50 to 70 million Americans to receive checks through direct deposit by April 15, something different from the draft of the plan obtained by the newspaper.

Still, that would only be for those who filed tax returns in 2019 or 2018, or those for whom the federal government already has banking information, such as those who receive benefits from Social Security.

If the IRS doesn’t have your direct deposit information and you have to wait for a paper check, they won’t start going out until April 24, the report said.

A spokeswoman said the IRS would send paper checks to the lowest-income Americans first, starting with those with incomes of $10,000 or less on April 24.

“Checks for earners of $20,000 or less would be in the mail May 1, followed by those with incomes of $30,000 on May 8, $40,000 on May 15, and continuing in income increments of $10,000 each week, according to the plan. The IRS plans to issue about 5 million checks each week,” the report said.

Then, those who earn near the income cutoff for the benefit would see checks issued on Sept. 4, and the rest — those for whom the IRS didn’t have prior tax information — would be issued on Sept. 11, the report said.

Treasury said previously it would create a portal so Americans could give their information to the IRS, but that won’t be ready until mid-April at the earliest. TurboTax created one to get information to the government, but it’s not an official IRS tool.

So can you check on when you’ll get your payment?

As of now, the answer is no.

The IRS has a Where’s My Refund tool. It allows you to check the status of your refund by entering your Social Security number, filing status and the exact amount of your tax refund.

But there is no new tool to tackle stimulus payments. It’s expected to be posted on the IRS’ website where you can see updates from the IRS on this and related stimulus topics.

To see how much of a benefit you may receive under the current law, use our stimulus payment calculator.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether it’s a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

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https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/04/can-i-track-my-stimulus-check-from-coronavirus-relief-bill.html