How To Track Your Stimulus Payment Before It Arrives

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Since the federal government announced in March 2021 that millions of Americans would be receiving additional stimulus checks to combat the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, Team Clark has gotten a ton of questions about the payments.

Chief among those questions is: “When will I get my money?” Though the answer will vary from person to person, there are some things you can do to track your payment before it arrives.

How To Know When You Will Get Your Stimulus Money

The first wave of the latest round of payments is already starting to hit taxpayers’ bank accounts, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

If you have yet to receive any money and are anxious to know when it might arrive, you can use the “Get My Payment” tool to track the status.

If you are using the Get My Payment app and receive a “Status Not Available” message, the IRS says you may not be eligible for a payment or it may not have enough information to provide a status.

The IRS says it updates the data once a day, so you don’t have to check back more often than that. Read more here.

There is another way you can try to track your payment, depending on whether you expect to receive your money electronically or via a check in the mail.

If You Expect To Receive Your Stimulus Money Electronically

If you are eligible for stimulus money and you have your bank account information on file with the IRS, you can likely set up an alert with your bank that will let you know when the funds hit your account.

To do this, log in to your account on your banking institution’s website or app and look for an option to manage alerts. It may look something like this:

Manage Alerts

Look specifically for “Deposit Alerts” or even “Direct Deposit Alerts” and elect to be notified via email, text message or push notification to your phone. The options will vary depending on the bank or credit union, but most of them should have some kind of alert function on their apps or websites.

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By setting up an alert, you’ll be able to tell that your stimulus money is available the moment it is deposited into your account.

If You Expect To Receive Your Stimulus Money in the Mail

Don’t have direct deposit set up with the IRS? Then it’s likely your payment will come as a check or debit card in the mail.

You can set an alert before the check is delivered by signing up for USPS Informed Delivery.

When you use Informed Delivery, you’ll receive daily emails in the mornings with scans of all first-class mail that will be delivered to your address later that day. You can sign up for Informed Delivery here.

Informed Delivery will let you know that your check was supposed to arrive, so if you don’t get it, you can follow up with the Postal Service or the IRS.

The IRS says it will also send a notice or letter after you get your payment that will tell you the amount that you should have received. You should save this notice for your tax records.

If you are unsure that you’re getting a legitimate letter, the IRS urges you to visit IRS.gov to protect yourself from scam artists.

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