Get My Payment Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, you can check the status of your first and second Economic Impact Payment using Get My Payment. The status includes the date of the payment and the method (direct deposit or mailed payment). Some people will receive their second Economic Impact Payment by mail, either as a paper check or in the form of a debit card. For people in this group, the IRS urges people to carefully watch their mail for either of these during January.

Some people received their first EIP in multiple payments. If you received more than one payment for the first round of EIP, the Get My Payment application will show you only the most recent payment information.

Either spouse can use Get My Payment by providing their own information for the security questions used to verify their identity. Once verified, the same payment status will be shown for both spouses.

You can use Get My Payment to check your payment status if the IRS has enough information to verify your identity. It may not be possible to verify your identity if:

• You didn’t file a tax return
• You didn’t use the IRS’s Non-Filers tool by Nov. 21, 2020 to register for a payment
• You receive federal benefits and we don’t have enough information for you to access the application

If no information is available for you and you didn’t receive any payments or the full payment amounts you’re eligible for, then you may be eligible to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on line 30 of your 2020 Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR.

Yes, you can access Get My Payment using an ITIN.

Updates to your payment status are made no more than once per day, usually overnight.  For additional information, see Payment Status Not Available below.

Get My Payment will show the status of your second Economic Impact Payment and your most recent first payment. Some people received their first EIP in multiple payments. If you received multiple payments, the application will show only the most recent first EIP.

For the second EIP, Get My Payment will display one of the following payment statuses:

1. Payment Status –

• If you receive this message, a payment has been processed. The status will include your payment date and tell you how your payment was issued – either by direct deposit or mail. 

2. Payment Status Not Available –

• If you receive this message, you were either not eligible, or eligible but we were unable to issue you a second payment. You’ll need to claim any additional amount you may be entitled to on your 2020 tax return as the Recovery Rebate Credit.

Your payment may have been sent by mail because the bank rejected the deposit. This could happen because the bank information is invalid or the bank account has been closed. Therefore, the IRS does not have correct account information for you.

We’ll mail your payment to the address we have on file for you.

Note: You can’t change your bank information already on file with the IRS. No action is needed to contact the IRS as phone assistors won’t be able to change your bank information either.

Get My Payment won't allow you to change your address. If your payment can’t be delivered to you for any reason and is returned to the IRS, you’ll need to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 return.

The Get My Payment application will return "Payment Status Not Available" if:

• You filed a tax return, but we haven't finished processing your 2019 return 
• You don't usually file a return, and we don’t have enough information to issue you a payment
• You’re not eligible for a payment

We update Get My Payment data once per day, overnight so there’s no need to check more often, please check back for updates.

If you didn’t receive the full payment you’re eligible for, then you may be eligible to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on line 30 of your 2020 tax return Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR.

Your account has been locked for 24 hours. This occurred because:

• Information you entered doesn’t match our records – for security reasons we limit each user to three failed attempts per 24-hour period; or
• You have already accessed the system the maximum number of times within 24 hours – we limit each user to five logins per day to manage system capacity.

The lockout will only release when the 24 hours has passed. Don’t contact the IRS for assistance with a lockout, an IRS assistor is not able to unlock your account.

No. Where’s My Refund and View Your Account will not provide the status of your Economic Impact Payments. Get My Payment is the only option available to get your payment status. If it is not available at the time you access it, you will need to try again later.

If the information you enter to verify your identity doesn’t match our records, you’ll receive an error message. To avoid this:

• Double-check what the application is requesting.
• Make sure what you enter is accurate.
• Try entering your street address in a different way (for example: 123 N Main St instead of 123 North Main St.). 
• Use the U.S. Postal Service’s ZIP Lookup tool to look up the standard version of your address, and enter it into Get My Payment exactly as it appears on file with the Postal Service.

Note: If you enter information that doesn’t match our records three times within 24 hours, you’ll be locked out of Get My Payment for security reasons. You’ll be able to access the application again after 24 hours. Don’t contact the IRS for assistance with a lockout, an IRS assistor is not able to unlock your account.

Get My Payment will reflect the bank account information:

• You provided on your 2019 tax return,
• You entered on your non-filer registration in 2020,
• You entered on Get My Payment before Dec. 22, 2020, or
• a Federal Agency provided to the IRS because you receive benefits from the Social Security Administration, Veteran Affairs, or Railroad Retirement Board.

Some recipients may have had their payment directed to the temporary bank account established when their 2019 tax return was filed. The IRS and tax industry partners are taking steps to redirect stimulus payments to the correct account for those affected. The IRS anticipates many additional taxpayers will receive payments following this effort.

Your payment information cannot be changed. If you don’t get a payment and you are eligible to receive one, you can claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 tax return.

Your payment information can’t be changed. If you don’t get a payment and you’re eligible to receive one, you can claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 tax return.

Some recipients may have had their payment directed to the temporary bank account established when their 2019 tax return was filed. The IRS and tax industry partners are taking steps to redirect stimulus payments to the correct account for those affected. The IRS anticipates many additional taxpayers will receive payments following this effort.

Some recipients may have had their payment directed to the temporary bank account established when their 2019 tax return was filed. The IRS and tax industry partners are taking steps to redirect stimulus payments to the correct account for those affected. The IRS anticipates many additional taxpayers will receive payments following this effort.

If you receive SSA, RRB, SSI or VA benefits via Direct Express:

If your benefits are currently deposited to a Direct Express card, your Economic Impact Payments will also be deposited to that card. The bank information shown in Get My Payment will be a number associated with your Direct Express card and may be a number you don’t recognize.