Social Security recipients and others who do not normally file a tax return can expect stimulus money to arrive by direct deposit April 7 or later.
The third stimulus program rollout — much like the first and the second last year — has a flip side. For some, the extra cash that they spotted in their bank accounts around March 17 or March 23 is already long gone, spent on old bills or new things for the house or the kids. For others, the frustration of not being the first in line — or not even knowing when to expect their money — builds and builds. But some more news on those Economic Impact Payments, or that stimulus cash, was released Tuesday. Another round of stimulus payments will be issued this weekend to Social Security recipients and other federal beneficiaries who do not normally file a tax return, according to the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Treasury Department. The projection, according to the IRS, is that the majority of these payments would be sent electronically and received on the official payment date of April 7. The stimulus cash would be issued through direct deposits and payments to existing Direct Express cards. But there could be a longer delay for some: « The IRS continues to review data received for Veterans Affairs (VA) benefit recipients and expects to determine a payment date and provide more details soon. » Some in this group could have to wait until mid-April for stimulus money. The IRS said it received the necessary data from the Social Security Administration on March 25. « The IRS began the multistep process to review, validate and test tens of millions of records to ensure eligibility and proper calculation of Economic Impact Payments. » If no additional issues arise, the IRS expects to complete that work and to begin processing these payment files at the end of this week. So people who have been upset that they didn’t get money in the first two batches of payments, which began in mid-March, now have some relief knowing when the money should arrive. They likely won’t be happy, though, that they’ll need to wait another week. After a recent column on these delays, I received more than 380 emails from readers all across the country who had complaints and concerns about the latest stimulus rollout, including questions on why struggling, vulnerable households and many seniors had yet to receive stimulus checks as of late March.
