IRS Has Answers
to Questions People Are Asking About Economic Stimulus Payments; IRS Urges People
to Visit IRS.gov
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. A link to these Frequently
Asked Questions can be found at the bottom of this page.
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.
Frequently
Asked Questions
