Second stimulus check: IRS gives new guidance on missing payments

(NEXSTAR) – After months of waiting for a second round of COVID relief from the government, the frustration continues for many Americans whose payments either haven’t arrived or wound up in the wrong account.

On Friday, the Internal Revenue Service said that over 100 million stimulus payments had been direct deposited “into eligible recipients’ accounts.”

For some people however, that account was a “temporary bank account established when their 2019 tax return” was filed by a third party company such as TurboTax, H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt.

Those companies have all vowed to work with the IRS and Treasury to correct the issue.

TurboTax said Friday that “stimulus payments will begin to be deposited today for millions of our customers affected by the IRS error,” but it could take banks a few business days to process. The payments will go into the same customer bank account where the 2019 tax refund was deposited.

(1) ***UPDATE***

We are happy to share that stimulus payments will begin to be deposited today for millions of our customers affected by the IRS error.

— Intuit TurboTax (@turbotax) January 8, 2021

“The IRS and tax industry partners are taking immediate steps to redirect stimulus payments to the correct account for those affected,” the IRS said in a statement. “The IRS anticipates many additional taxpayers will receive payments following this effort.”

If you used the Get My Payment tool and noticed that the stimulus payment went to an unfamiliar account, the IRS advises you to continue to monitor your bank account for deposits.

“The IRS emphasizes that the information taxpayers see in the Get My Payment tool, including account numbers and potential deposit dates, may not display an accurate account number as we continue to work through updates,” according to the IRS. “No action is necessary for taxpayers as this work continues; they do not need to call the IRS, their tax provider or their financial institution.”