Stimulus direct deposit, checks and EIP cards.

[Cayman]

Directly Deposited to Unkown Account

There are at least a dozen news articles written in the past day or two detailing taxpayers who checked the stimulus status website to find that their stimulus dollars were deposited to an account they don't own. The last 4 numbers that their $ were deposited into as shown on the stimulus update website are not an account they own.

After research, I found several potential scenarios. Not wanting to waste time detailing each of them here - just know that if you receive the status message that you're was deposited into an account you don't own, you're not alone.

I prepared my own taxes, IRS has my correct direct deposit info, however the status message for DH and I reflects direct deposit of our stimulus $ into some unknown account. I imagine we'll eventually receive what we're owed after we work at it. I am more concerned that folks who desperately need their stimulus $ will not get theirs in a timely manner, or at all.

Also - did the IRS send a pile of money to the wrong accounts

 

[audreyh1]

I have the same problem. There was an article in WAPO yesterday about some of the problems that people were having with entering their information and one of the examples was someone who applied their refund toward their 2020 taxes, and like us, could not enter their direct deposit info. A spokesman for IRS said they were aware of the problem. Hopefully, they will provide a fix.

Well, that is encouraging, and I’ll wait for a while before trying again.

 

[frank]

There seems to be a bug now where if you have the 2019 overpayment applied to 2020 taxes, which puts the refund field they
are specifically asking for to 0, that it kicks you out to a “technical difficulties - try again later” error page.

They give you two choices and are ignoring a third case.

They ask you - did you owe money - no.
Did you get a refund - well, also no because it was applied to the next year’s taxes.

I which they had simply asked if you overpaid and by how much.

that would be too easy. they just like to have a few of us out there hanging in the wind.

I wish I could find out if I could apply it to my 2020 taxes. I would let it ride and not have to pay any more as I already paid the first quarter.

 

[audreyh1]

We usually owe a little bit in Federal taxes. So we don't have a bank account set up for any refund to be direct deposited. We do have our Social Security set as direct deposit. Do you think the IRS and the Soc Security Adm will work together (share) the information so that our stimulus check has somewhere to be deposited?

I've looked around the internet, and don't seem to find an answer to that question. So do any of you have the same situation? Or can you point me in the right direction to find my answer? Thanks.

No, I think you had better provide your bank info.

DF is the same, and he receives SS as direct deposit. And when I went to check on the payment status online, they told me that they did not have the required bank info and asked me to provide it.

 

[Cobra9777]

The website shows my payment status as unavailable. And I
can't get to the page where I can add banking info.

My 2019 taxes were efiled around 4/10 and included bank info. My 2018 taxes had tax due and had no banking info.

I suspect that the stimulus check system checked for banking info before my 2019 taxes were efiled and found no banking info. And the system has not since checked to see if 2019 taxes were filed. The system does not appear to be sophisticated enough to continue to check for 2019 tax returns after the initial check.

So our stimulus $ is in limbo somewhere.

One of the reasons cited by the IRS for getting that error message is:

If you recently filed your return or provided information through Non-Filers: Enter Your Payment Info on IRS.gov. Your payment status will be updated when processing is completed.

Just check back every couple days. I suspect you will still get the direct deposit.

 

[frank]

No, I think you had better provide your bank info.

DF is the same, and he receives SS as direct deposit. And when I went to check on the payment status online, they told me that they did not have the required bank info and asked me to provide it.

what site did you use to provide the information? did you use the filers or non filers?

 

[audreyh1]

what site did you use to provide the information? did you use the filers or non filers?

The official IRS get my payment site.

 

[Cobra9777]

I just want to enter our bank info to get the direct deposit instead of waiting around for a paper check. But this is now Day 3 of getting nothing but: Payment Status Not Available. Same result using DW's SSN and same result for DMIL. I even tried using my deceased FIL who was on their 2018 return.

One commonality: neither of us has filed a 2019 return yet. In fact, I'm noticing that pattern from other news sources and forums... some of the people getting this message are fully qualified to receive payment based on 2018 but haven't filed their 2019 return yet... which of course is not required until July 15. So the IRS tool should be defaulting to 2018 to determine eligibility, based on everything I've read.

But according to the IRS, one reason for getting that error message is: "If you are required to file a tax return and have not filed in tax year 2018 or 2019." I guess technically, it is true that I am required to file in both 2018 and 2019, and I have not filed in one of those two years.

Either way, I'd like to get the money in our account before July 15 because our 2019 return will disqualify us. Same for 2020. Might be filing an extension if it gets to that point. Hopefully, they'll have time to fix this tool before then. I'll keep checking every couple days.

 

[Gumby]

There seems to be a bug now where if you have the 2019 overpayment applied to 2020 taxes, which puts the refund field they
are specifically asking for to 0, that it kicks you out to a “technical difficulties - try again later” error page.

They give you two choices and are ignoring a third case.

They ask you - did you owe money - no.
Did you get a refund - well, also no because it was applied to the next year’s taxes.

I wish they had simply asked if you overpaid and by how much.

Yes, Line 20 would have been much easier and clearer than Line 21a.

 

[sergio]

Anyone WHO WAS ABLE TO ENTER the deposit info get your check yet, or able to see a deposit date online? Entered ours the day the site opened early morning and still get the message showing last 4 digits of account and a note saying it will be updated when they have a date for the deposit.

Same thing is happening for me. Put in my info after the site launched and it says I'm eligible and to keep checking back.

If I recall correctly, the first two weeks of payments are going out to those who the IRS has banking information, starting from the lowest AGI. The next batch will go to those who provided their banking information in the online portal, I believe that will take another few weeks. The final batch will be the paper checks which can take up to 4 months...

So I would expect a wait of at least another week before they wrap up the current round of deposits.

 

[RockyMtn]

I'm not eligible. DGF got hers yesterday. So did her mother. My son has not gotten his yet. IRS has his Direct Deposit info as he received tax refunds in 2018 and 2019 and has received his 2019 refund about a month and half ago. Site says something like "info not available" when he checks the "get my payment" site. Too bad. He needs it. Got laid off from both of his jobs!

 

[swakyaby]

I also get the "Payment status not available." DH and I qualify for the payment based on 2018 tax return, but have not yet filed 2019. Neither my or DH's info gets us past that message, so we're unable to enter direct deposit bank information.

 

[Ronstar]

.....Just check back every couple days. I suspect you will still get the direct deposit.

Checked last night and the website says DW and I will be direct deposited on the 22nd. Very nice.

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

I still have no deposit date yet. I am thinking my payment has to be deposited before April 24. I think April 24 is when the paper checks start, so it should be before then. I should get it next week.

 

[Fermion]

I am getting the technical difficulties thing caused by having to put in 0 for getting a refund in 2019 since we applied the money to our taxes.

Super sloppy programming. I hope the programmers didn't get a stimulus check.

 

[ronin]

...Super sloppy programming...

I agree. Has to be multitudes of us in the same situation. What is it, a 20 min. programming fix? Match the number we enter to the number on our return. Duh!

 

[harllee]

I agree. Has to be multitudes of us in the same situation. What is it, a 20 min. programming fix? Match the number we enter to the number on our return. Duh!

Same problem for me--I applied my 2019 refund to my 2020 estimated payments and now Get My Payment website locks me out. I am sure thousands (or millions?) of taxpayers did the same. DUMB!

 

[gailwinters]

I am getting the technical difficulties thing caused by having to put in 0 for getting a refund in 2019 since we applied the money to our taxes.

Super sloppy programming. I hope the programmers didn't get a stimulus check.

A poster on the Bogleheads board who has the same issue now has a message on the IRS site that their check is scheduled to be mailed on April 24 to the address on record for them.

We are in the same boat, so I guess we will be waiting for a check, too. I still can't get past the error response.

 

[Cobra9777]

I also get the "Payment status not available." DH and I qualify for the payment based on 2018 tax return, but have not yet filed 2019. Neither my or DH's info gets us past that message, so we're unable to enter direct deposit bank information.

Same for us, and this is a pattern that I posted about earlier.

But I just noticed that the IRS has updated their FAQ regarding this error message, which seems to explain why we're seeing it. I bolded the applicable part:

The Get My Payment application will return "Payment Status Not Available" for several reasons, including:

• You are required to file a tax return, but:

• We haven't finished processing your 2019 return
• You haven’t filed your 2019 tax return and didn’t have direct deposit information on your 2018 return
• The application doesn't yet have your data; we’re working on adding more data to allow more people to use it.

• You don't usually file a return, and:

• You used Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here but we haven’t processed your entry yet
• You receive an SSA or RRB Form 1099 or SSI or VA benefits; information has not been loaded onto our systems yet for people who don’t normally file a tax return.

• You’re not eligible for a payment (see Eligibility).

We update Get My Payment data once per day, overnight so there is no need to check more often. If you are eligible for a payment and have provided your information either through a recent tax return or the Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here application, please check back for updates.

This makes no sense. We haven't filed 2019 yet because it's not required. We filed 2018 but had no refund thus provided no direct deposit info. We qualify for a stimulus payment based on the 2018 return. So we're trying to use this tool for it's intended purpose, which is to provide bank info to enable direct deposit. But the tool won't let us do that. I don't get it.

Is that actually how the tool is intended to function? Or is this an admission by the IRS that there's a problem and they don't yet have all the 2018 data into the tool at this point?

 

[Gumby]

It also appears to be the case that if you paid when you filed taxes, especially if you paid with a check, you will be unable to get anything but a check sometime later in the year. There does not appear to be a way to notify them of a bank account into which they could make a direct deposit. It's not a big deal for us, since we're only getting $171, but this could be a problem for some who are getting a bigger sum and need it more.

 

[donheff]

I am getting the technical difficulties thing caused by having to put in 0 for getting a refund in 2019 since we applied the money to our taxes.

Super sloppy programming. I hope the programmers didn't get a stimulus check.

They probably rely on COBOL and overnight batch processing for components of this. I think the dumbest thing is to over promise on what people can expect. Everyone can get a test and the checks are in the mail. Right.

 

[audreyh1]

I am getting the technical difficulties thing caused by having to put in 0 for getting a refund in 2019 since we applied the money to our taxes.

Super sloppy programming. I hope the programmers didn't get a stimulus check.

Hopefully this obvious error they already know about will be fixed soon.

 

[Cobra9777]

It also appears to be the case that if you paid when you filed taxes, especially if you paid with a check, you will be unable to get anything but a check sometime later in the year. There does not appear to be a way to notify them of a bank account into which they could make a direct deposit...

I'm not sure that's correct. Lots of people owed money with their returns and some elected to receive their refund by check. So the IRS does not have bank info to make a direct deposit automatically.

The whole purpose of the Get My Payment tool was to allow these people to enter their bank info in order to: (1) get money to people quickly, and (2) reduce the number of checks to be printed and mailed.

Problem is: the tool is not working as intended. It seems to be working fine for people who filed in 2019 and owed money. It allows them to provide bank info and speed up payment. Here's an earlier post with one such example.

But for people who haven't filed yet for 2019, it's not allowing us to provide bank info, even though we are fully qualified based on the 2018 return. That's an obvious flaw... most likely caused by not having 2018 data available in the tool yet, which seems to be supported by today's addition to the IRS FAQ explaining why people are seeing the error message:

The application doesn't yet have your data; we’re working on adding more data to allow more people to use it.

It took four days to get that little detail up on the FAQ.

 

[Gumby]

I'm not sure that's correct. Lots of people owed money with their returns and some elected to receive their refund by check. So the IRS does not have bank info to make a direct deposit automatically.

The whole purpose of the Get My Payment tool was to allow these people to enter their bank info in order to: (1) get money to people quickly, and (2) reduce the number of checks to be printed and mailed.

Problem is: the tool is not working as intended. It seems to be working fine for people who filed in 2019 and owed money. It allows them to provide bank info and speed up payment. Here's an earlier post with one such example.

But for people who haven't filed yet for 2019, it's not allowing us to provide bank info, even though we are fully qualified based on the 2018 return. That's an obvious flaw... most likely caused by not having 2018 data available in the tool yet, which seems to be supported by today's addition to the IRS FAQ explaining why people are seeing the error message:



It took four days to get that little detail up on the FAQ.

I realize that the FAQs on their site say you could give them direct deposit information, but you can't if you can't get past the "Payment Status Not Available" screen.

BTW, I filed my 2019 return by paper in March and owed. I wrote them a check, which has been cashed.

 

[cathy63]

I'm not sure that's correct. Lots of people owed money with their returns and some elected to receive their refund by check. So the IRS does not have bank info to make a direct deposit automatically.

The whole purpose of the Get My Payment tool was to allow these people to enter their bank info in order to: (1) get money to people quickly, and (2) reduce the number of checks to be printed and mailed.

Problem is: the tool is not working as intended. It seems to be working fine for people who filed in 2019 and owed money. It allows them to provide bank info and speed up payment. Here's an earlier post with one such example.

Agree. It worked fine for us. We owe in 2019 and have filed, but not yet paid. I entered our account info with no trouble on Wednesday morning. No payment date yet though.

But for people who haven't filed yet for 2019, it's not allowing us to provide bank info, even though we are fully qualified based on the 2018 return. That's an obvious flaw... most likely caused by not having 2018 data available in the tool yet, which seems to be supported by today's addition to the IRS FAQ explaining why people are seeing the error message:



It took four days to get that little detail up on the FAQ.

Four days! For government work, that's like going at the speed of light.

More seriously, while I know it's frustrating for the people for whom the tools aren't working; the speed with which this whole process has occurred is pretty amazing. The CARES act was signed on March 27. The IRS had the first batch of money delivered 14 days later, and they developed and published a web application that interacts with data that's kept in some pretty antiquated databases in only 19 days.

While it would have been nice if they had also published the list of user stories that are not yet implemented, having been a government contractor in software development, I'm still astonished that they got any of this done so fast.