How to Get Your Covid-19 Stimulus Check

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced every state in the Union to declare a state of emergency. Stay at home orders have required the shutting down of many businesses and schools. Because of this, almost everyone has been impacted by the pandemic financially so a one time Economic Impact Payments will be sent out to help citizens meet their needs.

The stimulus checks and deposits will be for $1200 per adult and $500 per child 17 years of age or under.

The Internal Revenue Service announced that it had deposited to first Economic Impact Payments into some recipients accounts on April 11, 2020 via twitter.

The IRS asks that you do not call, stating that most people do not need to take action. Those who filed taxes in 2018 or 2019, those who are on SSI and other government benefits will not have to do anything.

Taxpayers who had paid taxes in 2018 or 2019 and whose direct deposit information is still on file with the IRS are the first group to receive deposits.

Most people should not have to do anything to receive their stimulus funds.

Through April, the IRS will use direct deposit for those taxpayers whose banking information is on file. Those who receive SSI will receive automatic payments. There will be a letter sent confirming that a deposit was made. The letter may take up to 2 weeks to arrive.

Paper checks will be issued starting in May to those who have not received direct deposit. The process of mailing checks may take as long as 20 weeks since the IRS currently has the capacity to issue roughly 5 million checks per week.

After the direct deposit has been made the IRS will send a confirmation letter. The letter may take up to 2 weeks to arrive after deposit.

A faster method to find the status of your deposit is look on the "Get My Payment" web app that the IRS just launched.

As with any kind of online financial activity, make sure the link has the correct IRS address and the image of a lock to show it is secure.

There is an online form you can fill out if you did not file taxes in 2018 or 2019 because your gross income was under $12,200 ($24,400 for married couples). This includes people who had no income. Or if you weren’t required to file a 2018 or 2019 federal income tax return for other reasons.

If you have qualifying children the age of 17, you can use the same form to claim the $500 payment per child.

With the online form, you can update your banking information in order to get a direct deposit which will be faster than a mailed check.

For those who had income over $12,200 ($24,400 for married couples) and were not on SSI, you will need to file taxes for one or both of those years in order to receive the stimulus check. The good news is that you can do this online and the IRS can use the return information for direct deposit.

The IRS has a prepared list of tax services that are free of charge. TurboTax and H&R block on on the list as well as several others. Most services have an income limit. An adjusted gross income of $69,000 is the highest income you can make to qualify for these services.

The IRS updates any new information about the stimulus checks on their website. Further details and answers to any questions can also be found there.