During these tough times, many Americans find themselves counting on the economic impact payments recently passed by Congress through the CARES Act. The first round of direct deposits has begun currently, but many have questions on how to proceed still to get their payments. We must again watch out for scams that are effecting these payments.
The good news is that most of you do not need to do anything to get your payments. Starting April 17, the IRS expects to have a tracker portal in place where you can track your stimulus payments. Watch for this here. If you filed your tax returns in 2018 or 2019 and used direct deposit to obtain your tax refund, that information will be used to deposit the stimulus payments. The following is what to do if this is not the case for you.
I DO NOT FILE TAX RETURNS
If you receive Social Security benefits, you’re all set. Social Security recipients will automatically get a stimulus check. The IRS will use Social Security data to determine how much you receive and where it will be sent.
If you are not required to file taxes because you do not make above the $12,000 minimum requirement to file taxes which include some low-income individuals, Supplemental Security Income recipients and Veterans Affairs beneficiaries, the IRS has set up a web portal here which will allow these people to register for a stimulus payment.
THE IRS DOES NOT HAVE MY DIRECT DEPOSIT INFORMATION
In this case you will still receive a check albeit an actual check mailed to you at your listed address with the IRS. Of course they are projecting this to take much longer than the direct deposits. The above mentioned tracker portal which is supposed to be active April 17, is said to also allow you to enter your Direct Deposit information, so you will not have to wait for the mailing of a check. Again watch for this here.
BEWARE OF SCAMS
If a scammer has targeted you, they may reach out pretending to be an IRS agent or a representative from your bank, asking you to verify your account information so you can receive your stimulus checks without a hitch. But really, they just want your information so they can access your bank account funds and transfer them to their own account. They may try to pressure you to give up the information by saying they'll withhold your checks if you don't comply or threatening you in some other way, but don't give in. Make a note of the phone number or email the scammer used to contact you and any names, addresses, or websites the scammer provided you with. Report suspected scams to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and your local police.
Some scammers are taking a different tack, claiming they have early access to the stimulus checks and can get you yours ahead of schedule if you only hand over your account information for the deposit. But don't believe them. There's no way to speed up the process other than mentioned above.
If you have any questions about when you'll get your stimulus check or whether you have to do anything, like providing a bank account for direct deposit, refer to the IRS's coronavirus tax relief page linked above. The IRS is asking people not to call for updates on the stimulus checks at this time.
The IRS reminds taxpayers that scammers may:
Emphasize the words "Stimulus Check" or "Stimulus Payment." The official term is economic impact payment.
Ask the taxpayer to sign over their economic impact payment check to them.
Ask by phone, email, text or social media for verification of personal and/or banking information saying that the information is needed to receive or speed up their economic impact payment.
Suggest that they can get a tax refund or economic impact payment faster by working on the taxpayer's behalf. This scam could be conducted by social media or even in person.
Mail the taxpayer a bogus check, perhaps in an odd amount, then tell the taxpayer to call a number or verify information online in order to cash it.
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