Like many other Americans, each day I wake up and immediately check my bank account to see if the stimulus check has hit my account yet. If it hasn't, then I immediately check the Get My Payment section of the IRS website for more details.

As with previous days, that's exactly what I did today. However, unlike previous days I saw an update on the IRS site that indicates that I won't be getting a stimulus check. Rather, I'll have to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit when I file my taxes this year.

Frank Pain
Frank Pain
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Have you received the same status as pictured above? That's what I've seen every day, so I decided to check out the Frequently Asked Questions section for more details and that's when the news hit me like a ton of bricks.

Updated today, January 6th, is a message that states that if you haven't received your payment by January 5th then you probably won't be getting a stimulus check.

The first couple of bullet points relate to the Get My Payment tool showing status updates other than "Not Available", so continue to check it for yourself to understand your personal status.

However, the third bullet point was all about my status as it states that if my GMP (Get My Payment) status shows "Not Available", then I won't be receiving a stimulus check. Instead, I'll have to wait and claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on my upcoming tax return.

Because of the speed at which the law required the IRS to issue the second round of Economic Impact Payments, some payments may have been sent to an account that may be closed or, is or no longer active, or unfamiliar. By law, the financial institution must return the payment to the IRS; they cannot hold and issue the payment to an individual when the account is no longer active. If Get My Payment shows “Payment Status #2 – Not Available” you will not receive a second EIP.

The IRS advises people that if they don’t receive their Economic Impact Payment, they should file their 2020 tax return electronically and claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on their tax return to get their payment and any refund as quickly as possible. [IRS.gov]

So, essentially, the law requires these payments to be sent out expeditiously and if they're not done in a timely fashion, the recipient is the one that suffers.

As I stated above, do your own diligence and check the status of your payment via the Get My Payment section of the IRS website.

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