Just when you thought the stimulus payment mess couldn't get any worse, the IRS rises to the challenge and and really screws up. The IRS has apparently sent at least 15,000 checks to the wrong people.
I've been overwhelmed by the number of questions regarding the economic stimulus package and the payments from the IRS. Readers have posted thousands of comments (3,300 at last count) regarding questions, problems and concerns with the stimulus payment. At this rate, I can only answer a small fraction of the questions. Helpful readers have been answering questions, giving advice and most importantly voicing their support for other readers.
What Happened to 15,000 Stimulus Payments?
According to this Newsday article, the IRS has admitted that at least 15,000 stimulus payments were deposited in the wrong accounts.
"We do know of instances of problems; we've heard of situations where stimulus checks have gone to the wrong people's bank accounts," conceded Kevin McKeon, the Internal Revenue Service spokesman for the New York region. "We're getting a lot of calls to the toll-free number."
Apparently, the issue was caused by a "computer problem." I love how anyone can blame anything on computers now. It's not our fault, the computers did it. As a computer programmer, I understand that computer errors happen way too often. However, I've also seen a number of problems blamed on computer err when human err was the real culprit. But that's the world we live in today.
"Overall, the vast majority of stimulus payments are going out timely and accurately to taxpayers," the IRS said in a statement issued in response to questions from Newsday. "To date more than 29 million stimulus payments totaling more than $27 billion have been issued.
"As taxpayers contact us with questions regarding the amount or the timing of their own stimulus payment, the IRS is providing answers and resolving taxpayer-specific issues."
So to those of you who are missing your payments, this could be the reason why. Make sure you contact the IRS. Better yet, go into your local IRS office if you can. It's much easier to get what you want in person than over the phone.
If you're one of the people whose payment was supposed to be sent or deposited and you haven't received anything, I'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment below and let us know your story.
Tags Economic Stimulus Government IRS Stimulus Payment TaxesRelated Posts
- Where Is My Stimulus Payment?
- The Stimulus Payment Was a Ridiculous Political Stunt
- When Will I Get My Stimulus Check?
- Divorced and Stimulus Payment Check Made Out to Both of Us
- H&R Block Emerald Card Economic Stimulus Payment Questions
Comments
105 Comments so far
I filled my taxes as Head of household and I had direct deposit with my tax return.
I filed end of january married jointly and have 2 qualifing children and opted direct deposit i was scheduled for payment May 16 and still have not received a dime
I RECEIVED SS AND WAS SENT A FORM TO FILL OUT IN ORDER TO RECEIVED THE STIMULUS CHECK I FILL IT OUT FOR DIRECT DEPOSIT WITH LAST TWO DIGITS OF SS# BEING 18 STILL HAVEN'T RECEIVED ANYTHING YET COULD YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHY I HAVEN'T REC'D ONE YET. I NORMALLY DON'T FILE A TAX RETURN.
Carol Cooper,
When did you send in the form? If it was after April 15th you may receive the payment later then what scheduled indicates.
I also receive Ss and filed for Stimuls payment thru TurboTax Have not Received Payment yet Called IRS No They say they have No Record of it What can I Do?
Fred E Avitt,
Which number did you call and who did you talk to? What do you mean by "they have No Record of it"? Do you mean they don't have a record of you filing?
my taxes was direct deposit too… may 16 was when i should have gotten mine…. I still haven't. I have no idea who to talk to about it or who to call….
I prepared my taxes on tax act as i do every year. I paid the fees out of my credit card and my last numbers of ss#26. Ive heard nothing nor received nothing. when i check website it states, nothing has been processed or filed.Iive called the automated machine and it stated the same response.
I filed before April 15, 2008 with last two digits on my SS# being 02 with direct deposit. I have not gotten any money or info. I would think I would be one of the first to receive the check.
I filed February 2nd, a 1040A direct deposit and last dights is a 29 which mean i was suppose to receive it May 9.Tell me what I need to hear
I called the 800 number at 5 o'clock and didn't get off the phone until 5:40. They said they would send me a form to claim my stimulus payment. Why didn't they just have the form on line so I wouldn't have to waste 40 minutes? Maybe I'll get my stimulus 6 weeks after they get the form back according to the irs. I'm not counting on it. The irs site said that the stimulus was deposited in my bank on May 14. I wonder who got my paymnent.
i didnt re ieve my direct deposit stimuls payment on may 16,2008 where is it
i didnt recieve my direct depoist stimuls payment on may 16 2008 where is it
Filed in Feburary with dd and stimulus was supposed to be deposited by May 16 but i haven't seen a dime. Would love to know where it is
I filed 2007 taxes. I paid by direct deposit to IRS before April 15th. I was scheduled to receive stimulus on May 6th. Show me the money….. No money… No updates on the website….. NOTHING… Hoping for vacation gas money….Any news…….?
I mailed my form the end of March and I never recvd my stimulus check. My last s/s # are 36.Is there anty way you can check to make sure form was recvd??
I filled my taxes on March 20th and did direct deposit for tax payment IRS pulled money from account on 23 March. As per IRS stimulus rebate schedule I should have received by May 9th by direct deposit and b by mail by 27th May. But still i don't see any progress and IRS payment site still provides blank. I am lost and frustrated.
Chris,
If you paid the IRS then you will get a check. The direct deposit is only for people who got a refund.
Sorry.
I prepared and filed taxes for myself and my fiance in February using Turbo Tax. His last two digits of his ssn# is 37 and mine is 39. I received my tax refund DD before he received his (at the end of March) because i e-filed and had to mail his in. He received his IRS stimulus rebate DD, and I still haven't gotten mine. *sigh*
I filed my taxes late march and received something general in the mail from the IRS stating that I would be receiving the tax rebate which should have been deposited by May 16. Still nothing?
I filed using tax cut in february received the refund no problem still havent gotten stimulus. my last ss# 34 does any one else see a pattern seems like the 30's has a problem to me.
I got the letter from the IRS saying i would recieve my check in the mail by may 16th and my social ends in 02….still havent gotten anything! It's almost june and i figured since my social ends in 02 i would have gotten it at least a week ago. Does location matter at all? I live in nj. Just wondering if anyone else w/ a low ending social hasnt gotten their check yet. oh yeh and i filed in the begining of feb! whats the deal?
I did my taxes online got my refund in less than two weeks my s.s.#89 last 2 numbers I have recieved 3 notifications in the mail and had dirrect deposit and still no stymulus check todate,made a call…..was told to wait two weeks after May16, I was told again I should have had my money in my account by May 12,O.K. tomorrow will be 2 full weeks from the first date I was given
My husband and I mailed in our taxes before April 15th, we received our tax refund pretty quickly, but we were supposed to receive our stimulus check on May 9th. Still nothing. BUt I have found info online that about 15,000 stimulus checks were deposited into the wrong bank accounts.
We filed our taxes jointly way back in March and paid in what we owed, so no account information was provided to them. According to their schedule, our paper check should have been mailed two weeks ago. (No, no direct deposits either.) We owe the IRS nothing in back taxes, etc. We are wondering where our long-lost money is! Do we get to charge penalties like they do?
We filed back in early April married jointly and a check was suppose to be mailed out on the 23rd of may and we have gotten nothing! I check on thier payment status and no info is available about our rebate check. This entire stimulus payment schedule and DD and Cks are as organized as April 15th itself. They shoudl just mail everyone a check on the same day and be done with any variations!
I am divorced and my ex husband recieved my stimulus check. I have never had his new address. Why would the IRS send my check to his house? I filled taxes and used my address.
Julie,
How do you know your husband received your stimulus check?
My wife and I e-filed our taxes jointly in late Feb and received our refund by direct deposit in March. Her name was first on the return so based on her SSN (..85) we should have received our rebate by May 16th. As of June 1st, still nothing.
He just gave it to me(I was very surprised). It had my name but his address. The stimulus check and the letter you receive before getting the check both were sent to his address.
Julie,
That's odd. Maybe some mix up in the mail? Do either of you live in the same place as when you where married?
Nate.
Use the "where's my stimulus" tool on the IRS site: http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=181665,00.html
I never lived there. I just got through to the IRS and was told that my address was changed. (this was not done by me) They told me that it was no big deal! Well I think if just anyone can change your address it is a big deal. They will not investigate who did the change.
Maybe he called to change his own address and the IRS mistakenly changed yours?
Make sure you follow up with the IRS and find out what happened.
I filed my taxes April 15th and paid my taxes due, IRS cashed my check April 21, 2008.I put my checking account info on my 1040 but still have not received my stimulus funds, it has been 6 weeks since I filed.
Does anybody else have this situation and not received their check?
i filed my taxes before april 15th and was supposed to recieve my stimulus by may 16th, here it is june 4th and still not a thing. i check on the irs website and they have no information about anything. what do i do?
We also filed our taxes on April 15th and paid what was due. IRS cashed our check on April 28, 2008. We used Turbo Tax and entered our checking account info for direct deposit of the stimulus money. However, as of June 4th, no sign of the deposit and the IRS website states no info availaible. Even if it would be a check mailed, the date has already passed for that and nothing thus far.
Brittany and Kaye,
1. Are you sure you qualified?
2. If you are then you may want to contact the IRS: http://wealthyreader.com/articles/economic-stimulus-payment-irs-phone-numbers/
At this point only the IRS can help you.
The last 2 digits of my SSN are 43. I and my wife are each due a stimulus paymnet of $600 each ($1200 Total) and we have opted for direct deposit. So our scheduled payment due date was May 9. We did not receive it. Then this date was for some reason unknown to me was changed to June 4.Now June 4 has passed and we still have not received our payment. What's happening here?
we also filed on april 10th and the IRS cashed our check on the 15th and have no check yet. They keep telling us to wait two more weeks every time we call them. What gives?
Same boat here. Filed on time. IRS cashed our check. Supposed to get it on May 9th. Spent the money in anticipation and it screwed us up really badly. Real "Stimulating!" If anything it made our lives worse since we put our faith in the government. BIG mistake. Still nothing. Social ended in 38
These clowns at the IRS don't have a clue! My wife got ahold of them again today and they said they haven't even began processing our income tax return! After 7 weeks you would think they could have at least done this much. Now they are saying it could take up to 3 more weeks. What a bunch of jokers! They sure were fast to cash my $2000 check but seem to be reluctant to give any of it back.
I filed our taxes (married, joint) well before April 15 using TurboTax, but I just found out today that all TurboTax users (even though we had Direct Deposit for our returns) will receive paper checks. This is because the funds from your return were paid to two accounts…TurboTax's and yours.
My question is..has anyone already received a paper check? According to the tax schedule we should be getting our checks by 6/6. Does this mean the IRS sends them out by 6/6 or are they in our mailboxes by then? Anyone know?
Hi
I was supposed to get my check in mail by may 16thand still nothing. I called IRS and they told me that it was mailed on the 16 and nothing came back to them. I requested a trace, now I need to wait another 2 weeks and call them back to see if they know what happened to my check UNBELIEVEABLE!!!!!
My Wife and I's taxes were filed using TurboTax in February of this year. We had the processing fee removed from our refund, and I'm aware that because of this our refund was issued from a 3rd party bank (similar to a RAL), that we'll be receiving a paper check. According to the IRS's timetable for checks being mailed, we should have been the 2ND week of issued checks for paper check mailings (May 23rd). It's now June 6th and I've seen nothing in the mail, and I have family & friends that have later mailing dates that have received their checks. What gives?
i am positive i qualified…i also filed with turbo tax. i didnt have anything extra deducted but i did have to pay the irs instead of recieving a refund. i have heard some things about the users of turbo tax not being able to recieve direct deposit. if thats the case why give them that option? i called a number i found on the irs website but it was a recording and it got me nowhere. is there another number i could call and actually talk to a person? i thought i might have put the wrong account number but they took the money i owed them out right away so i know it was right.
I should of received mine May 9, 2008 and if so my check got placed into wrong account…AM I STILL GOING TO RECEIVE A CHECK??? Or I get no money because of a computer glitch????
SHARON,
You can contact the IRS to check on the status of your payment. Contact the IRS in person if you can, by phone if you have to.
I met all the criteria for receiving my stimulus payment by direct deposit according to the IRS website. I did owe taxes, but paid them by April 15th ( I did however still include my bank information so they could direct deposit my stimulus payment.) I should have received it by May 16th. Is there a reason they will be sending a paper check instead?
I just read a previous answer that may have answered my question. I owed the IRS and paid with a check by April 15th ( but I still included my D.D. info on my return for the stimulus payment) So does this mean that I will automatically get a paper check because I OWED the IRS money? If so, I guess I won't be getting my check until July 4th according to my S.S #. What's ironic is that I was going to pay my estimated taxes on June 15th with my stimulus payment!
My girlfriend and i filed our taxes at h&r block in febuary or march. We both have direct deposit, from what we were told they are going by everyones ss#. till this day we still havent gotten our checks. I also know someone with a low ss# and still havent recieved their check. For us the checks would be very handy.
I was supposed to receive my stimulus payment on 5/02/08 @ never received it. Called IRS and they confirmed it was sent to the wrong Bank and wrong account, wrong person in a different state. I was told to wait 30 days and a new check would be direct deposited to my account. Now it is 6/13/08 no check. called IRS again they stated a paper check was issued 6/4/08. I have yet to receive it now they tell me they can't do anything until 6/18/08. This is crazy!!!!!
sue,
Unless you filed with tax software that allowed you to enter you direct deposit information, you will get a paper check (just like me).
Even if you entered your information, many people have reported getting a paper check instead of a direct deposit.
Thanks
Frank,
That too bad. I hope the IRS gets that straightened out. I can't believe the government can't handle sending out checks.
Could you imagine if they took over health care?
I just want to know if the schedule is actually a week ahead or do we go by the schedule on the IRS web site? I need my rebate
Gerri,
Go by the schedule on the IRS web site. That's the best bet at this point.
My husband and I have gotten all of our refunds and the other stimulus checks in the past, now there is a problem with my ss they said my name does not match ss. I called the ss office they said it was fine but according to the irs it isn't so at this point we aren't getting a check. My husband thinks it's because my name is hyphenated, I can't beleive I that all of a sudden it's a problem. They sent the issue to Fresno but this was weeks ago. We haven't heard anything and it is impossible to get through to them. This is such a joke!!!
Chris, In response to your answer, my CPA did our taxes. I'm not sure what software he used, but I know that he did include our bank info. and then efiled them.
I just talked to the rudest person at the IRS, after holding on the phone for over an hour. She told me that yes, they received our payment, and it was processed, but it says "data not found" for our return, so it looks like we're "not getting a return" according to her. We were supposed to get a rebate in May! They certainly received our check and processed it, but this woman was extremely rude, and incompetent. She couldn't tell me what that meant, and transferred me to another dept(because of her incompetence) where I got disconnected!! I know that we are entitled to a rebate, but I've tried calling back several times, and keep getting disconnected due to a "heavy call volume!" FRUSTRATING!!!
Nancy,
Have you tried talking to the IRS in person?
You may want to check with your CPA. Maybe the software he used has problems (like the other tax software companies). I realize he probably used a professional package, that doesn't mean it worked any better than Taxcut.
Good Luck!
This is so frastrating! everyone works so hard to make a living and this is what we get. we should get what we all deserve with no complications.
there is hope! today i checked my mail and got a letter from irs telling me the amount im getting and when i should be expecting my money.not the same amount of money i thought i was gonna get but im not complaing. jst to let everybody know with direct deposit, dont expect your money to go straight to your account because the irs might just send you a paper check. good luck guys!
Hello everyone, i filled my taxes on march and i recived my refund on april by mail. I recived a letter from the irs, telling me that i will get my stimulus check by 6/6/2008, its already the 15th, and still have not recived a check?, I dont have past student loans, ore owe anithing to the irs, and im not married or with kids, so weres my check?
Morgana,
The letter the IRS sent you tells you to contact them by a certain date if you haven't received your check, unfortunately, you just have to wait until that date and then contact the IRS.
Good Luck
Wooo hooo, got my letter today stating it should be coming soon! I heard people say letter one day check the next day, I hope that happens to me.
Has anyone recieved the letter one day and their check the next? I thought I read that somewhere. I sure hope so.
has anyone recieved the letter one day and their check the next? I think I read that somewhere.
sorry for the double message
oooohhh me to - hope that my check comes today. just rec'd my notice yesterday. of course, it's already spent & on nothing fun. ugh
Has anyone recieved their reabte check this week? mine says mailed by June20th. was hope for early this week.
I filed my taxes as a single head of household with 2 exceptions on Feb. 4. I paid all of my fees, and did not get any type of loan. According to the IRS I was to receive my stimulus via direct deposit by May 16. Well, today is June 19 and I still have not heard a peep from the IRS on where my stimulus may be. I have a feeling it will never come, and that makes me angry. My entire family used the same turbo tax I did, and they have all received their payments when they were scheduled.
Dee, did you try the IRS web site? Or try calling to see whats up? good luck!
My husbands check should have been mailed June 6th. I chexked the IRS website and it said it was to mailed on that say. Today is June 21 and still nothing. We were really counting on that check and still nothing.
Posted on June 4th, no check….here it is now the 21st and STILL nothing….and yes, am positive we qualified. We got the initial notice from the IRS before we even filed taxes. This is beyond ridiculuos! I am going to try calling the number given online here on Monday and if no luck there, I will go to the nearest IRS office and see what they say. Hang in there everyone!
We were sent a letter stating that check will be in mail on June 13. Its now the 21 of June and no check. I was wondering, does the irs send those letters to everyone, even if they are not going to give you the money due to owing back taxes? I dont think we owe any, but if we did, I think its very cruel for them to send a letter saying we sht0ould expect the money by a certain time, and getting our hopes up for nothing. Regardless of whatever reason people are not receiving their check, due to owing or income etc., I think everyone deserves it no matter what!!
Jessica,
Your should contact the IRS and ask them. Every situation is different.
Good Luck!
I am 55 years old, on SSDI and filed my claim in Feburary. Since my last two SSNs are 01 my paper check should have been mailed on May 16th. As of today, June 22nd, NOTHING.
Also the end of MARCH I received a packet from the IRS saying I was eligible, with a 1040 enclosed to fill out and send back. Of course since I had already sent my 1040 more than a month before this packet arrived I did not do this. However it did state to write "STIMULUS PAYMENT" across the top.
Now why would they wait until the end of MARCH to send this packet with these instructions when most had already sent in a 1040? Also why would this be reason to delay my payments? So I guess what it comes down to is because I filed my form in a timely manner but didn't write STIMULUS PAYMENT across the top I must now be punished?
Based on either my or my husband's SSN (our last two digits fall in the same range) we were scheduled for June 10th. We haven't had a letter OR check, and the IRS site has continued to say no information available. Today, after reading some postings here, I checked out the IRS site. It says our payment is now scheduled for July 4th. Yes, there is hope and I am so happy!!!
Cathy,
The IRS sends those packets to everyone who receives Social Security benefits.
Have you tried contacting the IRS by phone or in person?
My check was to be mailed on the 20th and I got it today the 23rd
I am married i filed joint w/ two kids and i was supposed to get $1800 and i just received a letter saying i will only get $600 for me and my husband and $600 for both of my kids. I will get the same as a couple who has no kids!!! I am not happy. and of course you can not get through to anyone on the phone nor can you get any aswers for that on their wesite… it is total BS…. who can give me some answers!!!!????
My stimulus check went to an ex-wife (divorce was final 2.5 years ago). I have since filed my 2006 and 2007 tax returns with MY new address… but somehow they managed to send it to an address that I havent used since mid 2005. Creates a lot of confidence in the system, what? ! I am just glad she didnt try to cash it!
I was suppose to get my stimulus payment on june 6th and i havent recieved nothing yet what going on and the irs tells me they cant tell me no information untill after july 4th.whats up with that . p.s. teed off
I was supposed to get my stimulis check on June 13—haven't heard a word!!!!! I wonder if I will.
I filed my taxes and was suppose to have it direct deposit on May 16th. I still haven't received anything yet. I try to call the IRS but I never get to speak with an actual person.
Tommie Tabor,
If you're close to your local IRS office, go in and talk to them. They should be able to help you.
i filed my taxes early nut know that I'm supossd to receive a paper check, i was supossed to get it on the 20th of june it is now the 25th and i still don't have and so where is it?
What SS#'s is the irs on? I am 97 and still waiting no info on IRS website about my payment.
my husband and i filed our taxes back in feb 08.our payment was supposed to be mailed out to us on may 9th,but of course here it is june26th and still no stimulus payment.Just as everyone else we have called and the best they can tell us is that we filed an ammendent on april the 14th.they say they cant send us a copy of this paperwork and we cant walk into the office.we did rapid refund back in february and recieved our tax money with no problems.we called the irs back about 2 days ago and now they tell us the payment was mailed to an address that we never heard of,now you go figure .did we sign and ammendment or do we live at an unknown address.
I paid my taxes on time and they were deducted directly from my checking account on 4/15/08. The IRS sent me a notice saying that I did not pay and now owed penalties and interest. I called, they told me they saw my payment but it had not been applied and it would be taken care of. I got my stimulus check minus the taxes, penalties and interest they said I owed. Now I've paid twice plus interest and penalties and again have been told to wait. How long do I wait?
I work for a bank and have been hearing taking calls about the stimulus check since the beginning of it all and honestly as much as they want to say their following schedule… THEIR NOT! Don't pay attention to the schedule, just cross your fingers I guess!
I am going to tell you now that if you receive a prefaced letter concerning your refund coming, don't get too excited. If you owe these idiots they are going to take that stimulus money from you. I don't see how this helps the economy at all when these legal crooks are going to get theirs off top, to hell with you and the fact you and your fam can't get a decent meal on the table or get enough gas to get to the store to even attempt to buy food.
I agree with you tony. My check was to be sent out mid-may, and I have yet to receive it. I received a letter recently telling me that I was going to get $600, and that I can expect to receive it by June 27th. Well, here it is July 1st, and I have not received my check. The "where's my stimulus check?" tool tells me that no information is available. I don't owe anybody money, and I payed my owed tax to the i.r.s. in a timely manner. I think this is bull. I think the stimulus is for the economy, excluding us consumers. Here's how it has worked so far: keep on sending people letters saying that there late checks are finally coming, and sending them false hopes, they then get excited and, counting on this money, they go out and blow all kinds of money they don't have to spend. This is nothing more than a damn scam, as usual.
My husband&I filed our takes back in Jan or Feb and we are supossed to get our stimulus check anytime now.But the problem is I recieved a letter the other day saying we are getting $1200 back.We have 2 kids so we should be getting $1800 back.According to the letter we are getting as much as acouple with no kids.What should we do to get our other $600 if the check we recieve is only for $1200?
Thanks!
Jennifer,
Was there a mistake on your tax return?
Go to the IRS site and use the calculator:http://www.irs.gov/app/espc/
It should explain how much you got and why.
If there was a mistake you can claim your stimulus credit on your 2008 taxes and get the money in your rebate check next year.
Good Luck!
No there was no mistake on the tax return I dont think.I did the calculating thing on IRS website and it said the same thing.But everyone else around us filed jointly and they have 2 or more kids and they also only got $1200 back….I dont know what we're gonna do because we was really couting on that money to help us out since we have been in a hardship here lately.
My husband and I filed our taxes at the same address for two years. We were supose to receive our stimulus check on June 20,2008. Well the IRS sent it two our previous address (two years at our address currently) well my mother-in-law had all the mail at that address sent somewhere else. Now the IRS said that they can't do anything until July 20,2008 and that they will have to do an ivestigation and it will take up to 4 weeks. So we asked if the check had been cashed or what the exact address was and they would not tell us. Not sure what to do now.
I recieved a letter from the IRS stating I would recieve my paper check by July 5th and I still have not recieved anything. I do not owe the IRS any money and was wondering what was taking so long? Can anybody tell me?
Filed the 14th of April and according to IRS should have gotten a check in May. It's now July the 9th. No check and the IRS website shows no info.
Jon,
Please check this article:
http://wealthyreader.com/articles/when-will-i-get-my-stimulus-check/
I filed my taxes in the beginning of Feb. and had my refund direct deposit. According to my SS# I was supposed to get it on May 16 but the beginning of June I received a letter stating I would get my check on 6/13. It's now July 16 and still no check. Has anyone else waited this long with the same problem?
Daisy,
You need to contact the IRS. Something is wrong.
hi my question is on what website can i find out if my check has been returned to the irs,
Well, it is now July 19, 2008. I filed my taxes in early March and got direct deposit for my refund. I still do not have my stimulus check, no letter, and the IRS website stimulus payment form says it does not have specific information about the status of mine. I should have gotten a deposit in May and now it's July and I don't even have a paper check.