When Will Coronavirus Stimulus Checks Be Mailed?

With an estimated 80 million Americans expected to receive their coronavirus payouts by Wednesday, those not receiving their money via direct deposit are wondering when stimulus checks will be sent via mail. While the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has yet to formally announce a timeline, an internal memo reviewed by reviewed by the Washington Post revealed plans to send the first checks by the end of April.

Prioritizing low-income Americans, the first wave of physical checks is expected to be mailed on April 24 for people with an adjusted gross income of $10,000 or less. Of course, it will take several days longer for those paper checks to actually arrive in mailboxes. From there, it is expected that the IRS will send out 5 million paper checks a week. Those checks will be sent out in waves, moving up the income thresholds in $10,000 increments.

It is believed that paper checks for people making above $100,000 but less than $20,000 will be sent on May 1. A third wave of checks, for those with incomes between $20,000 and $30,000, will be sent on May 8. Checks for those with incomes less than $40,000 will then be sent on May 15.

Some qualifying Americans, however, will not see their checks until September. The Washington Post reports that stimulus checks for joint taxpayers earning the maximum income allowed under the stimulus, $198,000, will be issued on Sept. 4. All other payments for those who the IRS had no prior deposit information will be sent on Sept. 11.

If that timeline seems a little longer than you are willing to wait, the IRS has launched a tool that allows Americans to not only track their stimulus payouts, but also select how they wish to receive them. The "Get My Payment" tool officially launched Wednesday on the IRS website and allows those who filed their tax returns in 2018 or 2019 but did not provide their banking information to submit direct deposit information. The portal is said to be quick and easy to use, and providing banking information means that Americans will get their checks faster.

Additionally, a non-filers tool allows those Americans who do not typically file a tax return to enter their information to more quickly receive their payments. Both tools can be accessed by clicking here.

The IRS officially began sending out stimulus checks over the weekend, estimating that 80 million Americans would receive their payouts by Wednesday. As the payouts continue to roll out, Americans have been warned of a number of scams. There have also been recommendations of how Americans can best utilize their payments.