IRS launches second web tool to expedite stimulus payments

The IRS launched a second online tool designed to help expedite economic stimulus payments on Wednesday.

The Get My Payment portal will allow taxpayers to give the agency direct deposit information for their bank accounts if they didn’t include it on their 2018 or 2019 returns. Treasury and IRS officials are hoping to get the stimulus payments to as many people as possible through direct deposit to avoid delays.

It could take as long as five months to get paper checks to people through the mail, the agency has told lawmakers. But even that timeline appears uncertain for some taxpayers, since the IRS has suspended processing paper returns, the agency’s national public liaison told tax industry professionals Monday.

The Get My Payment portal will also allow people to track the status of their payments.

More than 80 million Americans have received payments since they started flowing last weekend, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in announcing the launch of the portal.

To set up direct deposit, taxpayers will have to provide their adjusted gross income from their 2018 or 2019 returns, whichever they filed most recently; the refund or amount they owed from that return; and their bank account type, account number and routing number.

The IRS launched a different web tool last week that allows people who didn’t file returns in 2018 or 2019 to provide basic personal information to the agency to receive their payments.

The program is part of the massive coronavirus-response legislation enacted last month. The payments are up to $1,200 for individuals, $2,400 for couples and an extra $500 for children under 17 who qualify.

The payments start phasing out for individuals with incomes above $75,000, or $150,000 for couples.