 May 7, 2008 WASHINGTON — As millions of Americans begin receiving their economic stimulus payments, the Internal Revenue Service released a list of the most-frequently-asked questions –– and answers –– that people now are asking. “Many people have questions about the stimulus payments, and the IRS has the answers available on the IRS.gov Web site,” IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said. “The stimulus payments are automatic for eligible taxpayers who filed a 2007 tax return, and taxpayers do not need to take any additional action to receive the payment.” Stimulus payments started going out last week, and the initial round of payments will continue on a weekly basis through mid-July. In all, nearly 130 million payments will go out this year. Last week, 7.7 million payments were direct deposited, and the first mass production of paper checks begins Thursday. Since last week millions of Americans have visited IRS.gov and called the IRS toll-free lines. The IRS reminded taxpayers the fastest way to get answers is to visit IRS.gov, which has payment schedules and other information. Since the payments began, the IRS has been fielding a variety of questions centered on the payment schedule, factors affecting direct deposit of payments, eligibility requirements and questions about the payment amounts. The IRS today released an updated set of Frequently Asked Questions covering everything from when someone can expect the payment to whether it will be delivered electronically or on paper. The Frequently Asked Questions are listed at the end of this document. The most common question has been when people can expect their payments. Economic stimulus payments will be issued according to the last two-digits of the taxpayer’s Social Security number. For joint filers the payments will go out based on the last two digits of the Social Security number of the person listed first on the return. Payments will be made by either direct deposit or paper check, based generally on the option people chose when they filed their 2007 tax returns. The payment schedule below is for people who filed early enough to have their tax returns processed by April 15.
The payment schedule is a general guideline and several factors could affect payment timing. For instance, some paper returns filed but not processed by April 15 could result in payments later than the scheduled date. In addition, a small percentage of tax returns will require additional time to process and to compute a stimulus payment amount. For these returns, stimulus payments may not be issued in accordance with the schedule above, even if the tax return was filed by April 15. Finally, taxpayers who file after April 15 will get a stimulus payment after their tax return is processed. The most common questions and answers are part of an extensive listing of FAQs that address various aspects of the economic stimulus program. Other economic stimulus information is also on IRS.gov. www.irs.gov. For more information, also check out: |
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