Stimulus Checks: Can I Call the IRS to Check the Status of My Money?

The slow rollout of individual stimulus checks to help financially-strapped Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic has not been without its problems. While there are some resources available to find info on the status of stimulus checks, a phone call is not one of them, unfortunately.

Due to severely reduced staffing at the IRS, there is currently no live phone support available, according to Money.com. There’s even an explicit “Do Not Call” message on their website concerning these stimulus payments. Given the shortage of employees, there aren’t enough people to manually field calls. Worth noting that much of this reduced staffing is also due to coronavirus concerns.

There is an automated 800 number, although it only has information about tax refunds and information about various scams — of which there have been many. It even specifically apologizes for the “inconvenience” of not being able to offer any phone support regarding the stimulus. The agency is currently isn’t even looking at its paper tax returns at the moment, which will cause a delay in year-end refunds from anyone who files that method.

For now, the most effective method of tracking down a stimulus check is to use the ‘Get My Payment‘ option on the IRS website. It’s been a popular feature, to the point that it actually crashed the website thanks to an enormous spike in traffic. However, it appears that it will be the only option available when it comes to finding information about their respective stimulus payments.

Some of the other issues involve payments being deposited directly into the incorrect account, which has caused quite the online backlash. The paper checks, mailed to those who filed paper forms in either 2018 or 2019, were also delayed due to President Donald Trump’s insistence that his name appears on them. Which, obviously, became quite the firestorm on social media.

Meanwhile, there has been talk of a second, possibly recurring, round of stimulus payments. Even though states are nearing the end of their Stay-at-Home mandates, with some states already starting a slow rollout of openings, millions of people have filed for unemployment. Ohio Representative Tim Ryan co-sponsored the bill. He also released a statement on April 14 that read “we have to work quickly to patch the dam – and that means putting cash in the hands of hard-working families.”