Stimulus Check: What Is a Plus up Payment?

While many Americans have already received their most recent stimulus check from the IRS, new “plus-up” payments are now going out. “What is a plus-up payment,” you might ask? Well, according to the IRS website, it is essentially a make-up amount for those citizens who did not receive the full amount they should have when initial third-round payments began going out in March.

“These ‘plus-up’ payments could include a situation where a person’s income dropped in 2020 compared to 2019, or a person had a new child or dependent on their 2020 tax return, and other situations,” the IRS explained. “The payments announced today also include payments for people for whom the IRS previously did not have information to issue a payment but who recently filed a tax return and qualify for an Economic Impact Payment. Payments to this group — and the ‘plus-up’ payments noted above — will continue on a weekly basis going forward, as the IRS continues processing tax returns from 2020 and 2019.”

The IRS continued, “For the first two batches of payments (which began processing on March 12 and March 19), payments were primarily sent to eligible taxpayers who filed 2019 or 2020 returns. People who don’t typically file a return but who successfully used the Non-Filers tool on IRS.gov last year were also sent payments in these first two batches, either as a direct deposit or by paper check or an EIP Card, a prepaid debit card.” The organization also clarified that no one who is owed a plus-up payment will have to do anything to get it.

“No action is needed by most people to obtain this round of Economic Impact Payments. People can check the Get My Payment tool on IRS.gov on to see if their payment has been scheduled. The IRS notes that the Get My Payment tool on IRS.gov will not be updated until the weekend of April 3-4 with information for Social Security and other federal beneficiaries expecting payments next week.”