Stimulus Check: Deadline to Receive a Payment of $1,200 Is Saturday, November 21

With Thanksgiving coming up next week and the holidays around the corner, now is your last chance to collect the $1,200 stimulus relief check stemming from the mass U.S. lockdown earlier this spring. As a part of Congress's first (and so far, only) stimulus package, the CARES Act states eligible Americans are entitled to a one-time check worth $1,200. If you still have not received that check, there is one final deadline to submit your information to the government to receive it — and that is tonight.

Even though Congress and the White House agreed to their historic $2 trillion stimulus package, the CARES Act, there are still many Americans who have not received their stimulus checks in March. The IRS sent out payments based on the data collected from 2018 or 2019 tax returns, whichever one was most recent. If you do not typically file a tax return for various reasons, you may have been left out when it came time for the IRS to distribute stimulus checks. Additionally, others may have received checks that excluded their spouse or eligible dependents. As a result, the IRS is now encouraging people in those situations to use the non-filers tool on its website before Nov. 21 to receive their payment.

If you have already submitted your information, previously filed tax returns, or qualify for tax benefits like the earned income tax credit or child tax credit, you should not use that tool. Rest assured that the government still has plans to send out any outstanding payments through the rest of 2020. For those who are still waiting on that payment, you can check out the IRS' Get My Payment tool to check out your stimulus check status. While many Americans have not received their first stimulus check, the attention has now turned towards a possible second stimulus package.

Due to disagreements between the Democrats and Republicans, it's unclear if they will come together on another package before the end of 2020. One of the main points of contention between the two sides stems from the package's total amount. Democrats are looking to enact a package that would be in the $2 trillion range, but Republicans are not willing to go much higher than $1 trillion. As a result, there has been a major impasse over the past few months concerning stimulus negotiations.