Within the past several weeks, the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Treasury have successfully disbursed more than a hundred thirty million coronavirus stimulus checks worth approximately $335 billion to financially struggling Americans.

In all, nearly one hundred sixty million households are expected to get the much-needed relief money under the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.

For the third batch of stimulus payments, more than two million direct deposit payments, with a total value of more than $5 billion, and about two million paper checks worth nearly $5 billion have been sent out via direct deposit or traditional mail.

What’s notable about this particular batch is that it is the first one that includes “plus-up” or supplemental payments for those who only received partial $1,400 payments on an earlier date.

“This batch includes the first of ongoing supplemental payments for people who earlier in March received payments based on their 2019 tax returns but are eligible for a new or larger payment based on their recently processed 2020 tax returns,” the IRS said in a statement.  

“These ‘plus-up’ payments could include a situation where a person’s income dropped in 2020 compared to 2019, or a person had a new child or dependent on their 2020 tax return, and other situations.” 

Payments were also issued to those who recently filed tax returns in order to qualify for the stimulus money, due to the fact that the IRS did not have their necessary information on record.  

These checks will continue to go out on a weekly basis going forward, according to the agency. 

Anyone who wants to check on the status of their third stimulus payment can always log on to the IRS Get My Payment tool. The tool requires a person’s Social Security or tax ID number, date of birth, street address, and ZIP code.

However, be aware that some individuals will receive a message that says, “Payment Status Not Available.” “If you get this message, either we have not yet processed your payment, or you are not eligible for a payment,” the IRS says. “We will continue to send the 2021 Economic Impact Payment to eligible individuals throughout 2021.”  

Know that others will get a “Need More Information” message, which means that the stimulus check was returned to the IRS because the post office was unable to deliver it. If a person’s address has recently changed, then the best way to update it is to “file your 2020 tax return with your current address, if you haven’t already done so. Once we receive your current address, we will reissue your payment,” the IRS noted.  

Finally, if a person receives a confirmation letter (Notice 1444 or Notice 1444-B) from the agency stating that their payment was issued yet they didn’t receive it, then they can request an IRS payment trace. 

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Minneapolis-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.  

Image: Reuters