HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — “Stimulus payment” has been one of the most popular terms searched online since the start of the pandemic.
The government has rolled out three payments. But, not everyone has gotten that many deposits. Our Sydney Stallworth tells us what you can do if you find yourself in that situation.
Are you missing stimulus payments? If you are, you’re not alone. I sat with an IRS agent to find out how you can get that money.
We spoke to IRS Special Agent James Dorsey from the Atlanta Division. He says, “Well, there are a lot of factors that may vary and, you know, cause a check to be delayed.”
Dorsey says these factors could boil down to an issue with documentation. He adds, “It can vary regarding your filing status from last year, it could be a person moved, it could be an improper address. It can be a number of things.”
But, if you’re missing a payment, there is a way you can check to see why that is.
Agent Dorsey tells us, “If you go to IRS.gov and go to the Coronavirus Relief Package page, there are some items listed there that can help you identify why you have a delay in your payment.”
A number of news outlets have reported that people missing payments should file a Recovery Rebate Credit.
Dorsey says, “That would be advise you would seek from your tax practitioner or whomever has your income tax prepared. Those are some additional payments that may be allowed under the CARES act program so I can’t speak to those directly.”
Agent Dorsey says stimulus payments have become the new bait scammers use to catch your information. He says, “Nationally we have worked over 300 million investigations totaling over 400 million dollars in fraud.”
Remember there are signs to look for to know you might be dealing with a scammer. Dorsey says, “The IRS contacts taxpayers via letter correspondence. So, if someone calls you and threatens you to put you in jail and says they’re not gonna give you a payment, or that they’ll help you get a payment. So, you can pretty much hang up on that individual and contact the local authorities if they keep contacting you.”