April 27 (UPI) — The Internal Revenue Service on Monday announced upgrades to its “Get My Payment” tool designed to help Americans speed up the delivery of their $1,200 economic impact payments.
The IRS issued a statement announcing “significant enhancements” to the tool, but did not specify explicitly what had changed after many taxpayers have reported trouble attempting to check payment status or add bank information since the program launched April 15.
“We delivered Get My Payment with new capabilities that did not exist during any similar relief program, including the ability to receive direct deposit information that accelerates payments to millions of people,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said.
“These further enhancements will help even more taxpayers. We urge people who haven’t received a payment date yet to visit Get My Payment again for the latest information.”
The tool requires taxpayers to enter their identification number, partial address and postal code to verify their identity to see the status of their stimulus payment.
It also is designed to allow Americans who have filed tax returns in 2018 and 2019, but do not have direct deposit information on file with the IRS, to provide their banking information to have the payment sent directly to their bank accounts rather than receiving a check in the mail.
Updated FAQs on the IRS website indicate that the tool now is able to process banking information for taxpayers who requested their 2019 refund be applied to their 2020 taxes by checking either the “I received a refund” or “I owed money” selections when adding banking information and entering 0 in the “Refund Amount or Amount You Owed” section.
The IRS also clarified that the Get My Payment tool cannot be used to change bank account information that has been altered after filing a tax return.
“If we issue a direct deposit and the bank information is invalid or the bank account has been closed, the bank will reject the deposit. We will then mail you your payment as soon as possible to the address we have on file for you,” the agency said.
Additionally, the IRS said that people who did not file a tax return, but receive Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits, can now use the tool to track the status of their payment.
