Here’s What You Need to Remember: Earlier this week, the Internal Revenue Service confirmed in its latest press release that 1.1 million more coronavirus stimulus checks worth roughly $2 billion have been disbursed as part of the eighth batch of payments under President Joe Biden’s highly ambitious American Rescue Plan.

This now brings the total number sent out to date to approximately one hundred sixty-four million—with a hefty value of about $386 billion.

There is also more great news for those who thought they were done receiving any more checks from the government—as the latest batch included more than five hundred seventy thousand “plus-up” or supplemental payments worth nearly $1 billion. Over the past three weeks, more than $3.5 billion worth of the bonus payments have hit Americans’ bank accounts.

Take note that these supplemental payments are reserved for individuals who only received partial $1,400 checks on an earlier date.

According to the IRS, these particular checks are “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.” 

“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,” the agency added.

Keep in mind that many of these extra payments should already have landed in bank accounts, but if they haven’t, the IRS has assured U.S. taxpayers that these funds will continue to be sent out on a weekly basis going forward—especially as the agency continues to ramp up the processing of tax returns from 2020 and 2019.

As for the most recent eighth batch, payments began processing on April 30 with an official payment date of May 5. Also, be aware that since Tax Day for this year has been extended to May 17, the deliveries of “plus-up” payments could stretch on for weeks or months.

The IRS has once again pointed to the importance of filing taxes if people want to receive their stimulus funds in a timely fashion. A special note has been sent out to Americans who do not receive federal benefits or typically file tax returns because the agency needs their payment information, such as bank account and routing numbers, to disburse the cash.

For those who have been waiting patiently and are seeking a status update, know that they can always log on to the IRS “Get My Payment” tool at www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment. Just fill in the necessary information and then a status update should eventually pop up.

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.

This article was first published earlier this week.

Image: Reuters