STIMULUS PAYMENT PROBLEMS

April 28, 2020 - Douglas Myser

Stimulus payment problems. When the two branches of Congress were able to get together and pass the stimulus bill, America was hopeful that financial relief was on the way. Yet, what America didn't realize was that after years of underfunding the IRS, which is responsible for the administration of the stimulus checks, but is also involved in the Paycheck Protection Program, a new, additional burden was placed on an agency stretched thin, from years o being underfunded. It was only a year ago, that Congress finally started to push more money into the IRS to start regenerating the Agency that brings in dollars to the U.S. Treasury. To expect a smooth rollout of the stimulus checks was neither a foregone conclusion or a good bet. In fact, it was a good bet to expect delays, problems, and confusion from the start. Stimulus payment problems. So here are a list of some of the problems and some suggestions on ways to overcome some of those problems.

Lanny Danksy, or Ashland, Oregon, has been anxiously awaiting his family's stimulus payment, a bit of extra income that cold help pay the bills amid the unprecedented economic slowdown. But when he logged on to the IRS website to track his payment, he was alarmed to see it had been deposited into an old account that he had shut down last summer to get the bonus opening a new one. His bank rejected the payment and sent it back to the IRS, and he should eventually receive his stimulus payment as a paper check in the mail. However, the mailing address the IRS has on file for him is tied to a motel 140 miles from where he lives now. Here's a look at some of the other problems that face the stimulus rollout.

Some payments were sent to closed accounts. If you filed your 2018 or 2019 tax return with direct deposit information, the IRS will use that information to deposit your stimulus payment directly in your bank account. The agency says that if it attempts to use direct deposit but an account is closed, the bank will reject the deposit, and the IRS will mail you a paper check with the address it has on file for you. However, paper checks may take weeks longer to arrive than direct deposits. Regardless of how the IRS sends your stimulus payment, it will also send a letter to the mailing address.