The Internal Revenue Service or IRS is expected to send Coronavirus stimulus check to over 80 million Americans as a result of the US government’s $2.2 trillion aid package to help businesses and households survive during the pandemic.

IRS has started hosting a Get My Payment portal to help people track the status of their payments but within moments of its rollout, several users are facing issues when checking for the status of their relief money. As expected, the “Payment Status Not Available” message can leave people guessing if they’re even entitled to receiving the check, in the first place.

If you’re one of those who are eligible to receive the $1,200 relief check but are getting a “Payment Status Not Available” error, then this post will help you analyze what could be the actual problem behind it and help you with a resolution, if there is any.

Check your eligibility

You will only receive the Economic Impact Payment if you meet the following requirements:

  • You are either a citizen, permanent resident, resident alien, or qualifying resident alien of the US
  • You possess a valid Social Security number
  • You’re not dependent on another taxpayer
  • For tax filers: Your income is under a preset amount that’s based on the filing status and your qualifying children. Your adjusted gross income should be under
    • $75,000 if you’re an individual
    • $112,500 if you’re the head of the household
    • $150,000 if you’re married and filing for joint returns
  • For Non-Filers: Your income did not exceed $12,200 ($24,400, if you’re married) in the year 2019
  • For taxpayers with higher than a particular income: If your income comes under any of the following criteria, you will still receive the economic impact payment with some cuts. The criteria are as follows:
    • Between $75,000 and $99,000, if tax is filed as single or married separately
    • Between $112,500 and $136,500, if you’re the head of the household
    • Between $150,000 and $198,000, if you’re married and filing for joint returns

You’re NOT eligible if you belong to any of the following categories:

  • Your income is greater than $99,000 ($136,500 if you’re a household head or $198,000 when filed together as married)
  • You are dependent on someone else’s income tax return like a child, student, or a person dependent on a parent’s return
  • You do not possess a Social Security number
  • If you have filed any of the forms – Form 1040-NR or Form 1040NR-EZ, Form 1040-PR or Form 1040-SS
  • You are a nonresident alien

Can you receive payment without filing a tax return?

Yes, you are eligible to receive economic impact payment even if you haven’t filed an income tax return but only on a few conditions. These include:

  • You’re either a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident
  • Your income in 2019 didn’t exceed $12,200 (or $24,400 if married)
  • You receive any of the following benefits – Social Security retirement, SSDI, survivors benefits, SSI, or Railroad Retirement

Who can receive economic impact payment automatically?

If you’re an eligible taxpayer residing in the US, then you won’t need to take any action in the Get My Payment portal. If you belong to one of the following criteria, you are eligible for receiving economic impact payment automatically on your account:

  • You have filed the federal income tax for 2018 or 2019
  • You belong to any of these categories – Social Security retirement, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), disability (SSDI), survivor benefits
  • You receive Veterans Affairs benefits
  • You get Railroad Retirement benefits

Make sure you provide the following information correctly

One of the basic reasons for the ‘Payment status not available’ error to pop up could be because of human error. The IRS won’t be able to complete the payment if you entered information with even a slight difference from what’s on record. If you wish to avoid the payment status error, you might want to provide the following details correctly on the Get My Payment portal:

  • Your full name
  • Email address
  • A mailing address that you use currently
  • Date of birth
  • A valid Social Security number
  • Your bank account type, account number, and routing number
  • An Identity Protection Personal Identification Number, if provided to you by the IRS
  • A state-issued identification or Driver’s license
  • Details regarding each of your qualifying children – Name, Social Security number, Relationship to you/your spouse

Did you file your taxes for the years 2018 and 2019?

If you didn’t file your tax returns for 2018 or 2019, the ‘Payment status not available’ error might appear on your screen. You can either file an income tax return for 2019 with the IRS or use the Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here tool to get your payment quickly.

You can use the Do I Need to File a Tax Return? tool to check if you’re required to file a tax return for 2019. Here, you will have to enter regarding your basic information, filing status, and tax withheld.

Did you file taxes quite recently?

If you’re someone who filed your tax return for 2019 recently but you’re seeing the ‘Payment status not available’, then chances are that your return has not been processed yet. If you filed your return recently, it’s best left if you give IRS some time to use your information to calculate the right payment for you. The authority says that the Get My Payment data gets updated once a day and you can check if you’ve received the payment once every day.

Did you file your taxes through Turbo Tax, Credit Karma, or other tax apps?

The ‘Payment status not available’ error message can also show on your screen if you’re someone who filed your taxes with the help of third-party tax preparation services like Turbo Tax, Credit Karma, or H&R Block. As explained by some users on Reddit (1,2,3) and The Washington Post, the IRS seems to have not obtained details regarding the direct deposit when users utilized these services for tax preparation.

Do NOT check your Get My Payment application during off hours

IRS has clearly mentioned that its Get My Payment service will be unavailable between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. Eastern time during the following dates:

  • April 23, 2020
  • April 24, 2020
  • April 25, 2020

These timeframes are labeled as planned outages as the IRS will conduct maintenance during the stated time. Moreover, users don’t need to check for payment status more than once per day as the IRS only updates the portal once a day.

Your bank could be unable to check your account balance

Ever since the US government approved the $2.2 trillion aid package to its citizens, it’s not just the Get My Payment portal that has gotten overcrowded due to too many people using the same queries, even bank portals have started reporting issues.

Since a bank account is a second-best way for people to track whether they’ve received their relief money, these portals have also started getting overloaded. CNET reports that US banks including Captial One, PNC Bank, US Bank, Chase, and more are getting issues because of increased usage.

Did you get locked out of your Get My Payment account?

Besides getting the ‘Payment status not available’ error, you could also potentially get the Try again later after you enter your details on the Get My Payment portal. IRS says that if the information you enter does not match its records, then you will get an error message. If such an error occurs multiple times, users will be locked out of their Get My Payment account for the next 24 hours.

Look out for scams in the disguise of economic impact payments

IRS has warned people to avoid scam artists who could use the economic impact payments as a cover to take away your relief money and with it, your personal information. It’s important to note that IRS WILL NOT make phone calls, send texts or emails or contact you via social media regarding your Coronavirus stimulus check. Contact the IRS if you have faced such a situation.

Check with your spouse if you filed returns jointly

If you’re married and you filed your returns jointly with your spouse, then you should know that either spouse can access the Get My Payment portal to check the status of your payment. Check with your spouse if they provided all the information or if security questions were answered correctly. Once your identity is verified, both spouses will be shown the same payment status.

Evaluate how your payment will be sent to you

IRS says that upon processing, the payment will be sent to you whether by direct deposit or mail. If you want your stimulus check in the quickest way possible, then you should provide the Get My Payment account with all your bank information so that the relief money is directly deposited in your bank.

Check which bank account you’re expected to receive payment in

By default, IRS will use the bank information that’s available from your recent-most tax return. However, you can change your bank account information when submitting your ‘Get My Payment’ application or ‘Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here’ tool. You CANNOT change your bank account after the payment status turns to pending or processed.

If your bank account has changed since filing your tax return, you can update the changes on your Get My Payment application until the payment is ‘scheduled for delivery’ as mentioned in the image provided above. You can only change your bank account information if you did not use a direct deposit on your recent-most tax return or if the direct deposit was refunded.

In case the bank account that you previously used for tax returns is closed, your relief payment will be sent to the address that’s filed in your last return.

You can no longer use the ‘Non-Filers’ tool if you’re an SSA and RRB recipient with Dependents

If you’re an SSA and RRB recipient with a child and you don’t normally file a tax return, then you can no longer use the ‘Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here’ tool as you have crossed the deadline date for submission which was set for April 22, 2020. You will only receive the $500 per qualifying child after claiming the 2020 tax return.

Are you a U.S. citizen living abroad?

IRS will also send you the Coronavirus stimulus check if you’re a U.S. citizen currently residing outside the country. If you have a valid Social security number and aren’t dependent on another taxpayer, you can receive the economic impact payment by filing the Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR.

Even citizens living in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are eligible to receive the relief payment.

Did any of the above solutions resolve the ‘Payment status not available’ error message when checking for your Coronavirus stimulus check? If you have anything else that can help others, do let us know in the comments below.