Stimulus Checks: Second Wave of Payments May Take Months to Arrive

Some Americans who still haven't received their coronavirus stimulus checks could be waiting up to 20 weeks, according to a new timeline from the House Ways and Means Committee. While an estimated 80 million people have already received their payments via direct deposit, it has long been said that the mailing of paper checks could take much longer and could extend as far out as September.

The first such wave of physical payments were expected to be sent on April 20, with additional checks scheduled to be sent out at an estimated pace of 5 million per week, which could take up to 20 weeks. These rounds of checks are going to those who have not provided direct deposit information but for whom IRS has a mailing address and are being issued based on adjusted gross income (AGI), beginning with the lowest incomes.

A tentative schedule previously released showed the first checks being sent to people with up to $10,000 in AGI. The second to last round of checks, according to the schedule, would be sent the week ending Sept. 4 for those with an AGI between $190,000 and $198,000. The final round of checks would be mailed the week ending Sept. 11 for all other checks for those people who do not have tax information on file with the IRS.

"At the end of April, adult Social Security retirement, survivor, and disability insurance beneficiaries who did not file tax returns in 2018 or 2019 will receive their rebates if they receive their Social Security benefits via direct deposit. (Nearly 99 percent of beneficiaries use direct deposit.)Treasury has announced that adult SSI recipients will receive their rebate by early May at the latest,in the same way as they receive their normal benefits," the House Ways and Means Committee memo reads. "Weekly direct deposits and paper checks will continue until all individuals receive their rebates."

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates that of those Americans eligible for the government payout, which was part of the $2 trillion CARES ACT President Donald Trump signed last month, more than 100 million would be receiving their payments through the mail. That process is much slower than receiving payments via direct deposit, and people have been encouraged to utilize the non-filers tool and the "Get My Payment" tool on the IRS website to speed up the processing of their payments.

Available for those Americans who do not typically file a tax return, the non-filers tool will allow them to "easily and quickly" provide the IRS the necessary information for no fee. Meanwhile, the "Get My Payment" tool allows people to track their payments and also enter their banking information to receive their payout directly to their bank accounts.