Stimulus Checks: Possible Glitch in System Infuriates Affected Taxpayers

A glitch in the IRS' Get My Payment website has left many people in the dark about when their stimulus check is coming, and they are fed up. The online tool was meant to speed up the process of distributing Economic Impact Payments to help combat the coronavirus pandemic, yet weeks later, many people are still waiting on their money. A growing number of people are finding the information on their payments severely lacking.

The IRS was charged with distributing stimulus checks to all eligible taxpayers starting last month, using the same financial information they used for 2018 and 2019 tax returns. For Americans who got their tax refund via direct deposit, the process was simple, but for those who got a paper check in the mail, it has been slow. The understaffed agency has also struggled to provide frequent updates for Americans, as well as explanations when the time lines change. According to a report by CNN, a glitch in the system has just recently been revealed.

The IRS is still encouraging Americans to put their direct deposit information into the Get My Payment tool on its website, as they may get their stimulus checks "weeks" faster that way. According to CNN, after a person puts their information in the system, a payment date is scheduled within 11 days. However, many people have now waited longer than that with no updates for weeks on end.

Some of the people experience this glitch have even banded together online, forming a petition to the IRS. They call themselves the "Forgotten 15thers," since all of them say they put their banking information into the Get My Payment site on or around April 15 — the day the site went live.

"We expected that it would take the IRS some time to roll it out. But we just want to know the date," one petitioner said. "We already have anxiety over the COVID stuff going on, and now we're up late each night to check our status online."

Many of these petitioners noted — either online or in conversations with CNN — that they are out of work and behind on bills. At the time of this writing, their petition has more than 3,100 signatures, with a current projected goal of 5,000. More people are flocking to the "Forgotten 15thers" by the hour. Here is a look at what social media has to say about the supposed a stimulus check glitch.