Stimulus Check: IRS Remains Unresponsive as Americans Seek Answers

The second round of stimulus checks has yet to land in the hands of some Americans, and the IRS reportedly has remained unresponsive as citizens seek answers. CNBC reports that that is has heard from thousands of Americans who say that they haven’t received their payments, which they desperately need. To make matters worse, the impacted individuals and families have said that the IRS has not communicated with them as to when they can expect their payment.

“It’s extremely frustrating for my family because with my working we lost our food stamps so this little bit would help us,” 34-year-old Rachael Flanagan, who has two children, told CNBC. Taylor Hill, a 25-year-old who is also a mother of two children, shared that she has experienced almost the exact same issue. “My bank account only has $47 in it,” she told the outlet. They’re not the only ones, by far, who’ve expressed frustration over not being able to reach anyone with the IRS, regarding their late payments. “I’m so disgusted,” one person wrote in an email. “I find it very hard to believe that the U.S. government is this incompetent,” wrote another.

This is not the only issue that the IRS is facing, as it was also recently reported by tax preparer Jackson Hewitt that the department “inadvertently sent payments to over 13 million bank accounts that are no longer open or valid.” TurboTax also issued a statement on the situation, writing, “Unfortunately, because of an IRS error, millions of payments were sent to the wrong accounts and some may not have received their stimulus payment.” TurboTax added, “We have been working tirelessly on a solution with the Treasury and the IRS.”

CNBC notes that the IRS has not formally acknowledged this error, and refers news outlets to the Frequently Asked Questions about payments section of the department’s website, rather than answering any requests for comment. “Because of the speed at which the law required the IRS to issue the second round of Economic Impact Payments,” the IRS stetes, “some payments may have been sent to an account that may be closed or is or no longer active.”