WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service has re-launched its online tool to allow people to track their coronavirus stimulus payments.
The IRS Get My Payment tool went live early Monday afternoon but may have some delays initially due to high demand. The program was taken offline for several days before it could offer information about the second coronavirus stimulus check.
Last week, the Trump administration announced that the second round of economic impact payments had started to go out, so some people may have already seen the $600 in their accounts through direct deposit.
The IRS explained Monday that the official date funds are available was Monday, Jan. 4, so some Americans may have seen the $600 payments as pending or as provisional payments in their accounts before then.
Paper checks have also started going out and will continue to be sent through January, the IRS said, and some people will also be mailed debit cards so check your mail carefully.
Data on the IRS online tracking tool is updated once per day overnight, so there’s no need to check back more than once per day for the status of your payment.
When you log on, the online tool will ask for your social security number and your address. It will then show the status of your first stimulus payment from spring 2020 and the second stimulus payment, which Congress and President Trump approved at the end of 2020.
The tool will also show whether your stimulus check was scheduled to be sent via direct deposit or through the mail. The tool is available in English and Spanish on IRS.gov.
The IRS is also urging Americans to visit IRS.gov instead of trying to call the agency, financial institutions or tax software providers.
Here's some of the key questions people have been asking about the stimulus checks and details on who would or wouldn't get a second stimulus check.
Will you get a second stimulus check if you got the first one?
Because the second stimulus check passed by Congress is half the size of the first check, not everyone who got a payment in the spring will get money this time around.
If your 2019 reported income was $75,000 or less, under the current plan you would be eligible to receive the full $600 one-time payment. Couples who reported an adjusted gross income up to $150,000 would receive $1,200.
If you reported making more than $75,000, you would receive partial payments dropping by $5 for every $100 above the income limits.
So an individual who earned $86,900, for example, would get $5 under Congress' approved plan. During the first round of direct money, the money phased out at $99,000 for a single filer.
If you're a couple making $174,000 or more, or a head of household making more than $124,500, you also won't get a second stimulus check.
Here is a tool from Omni Calculator that may help you determine how much you might receive:
Will dependents get a stimulus check?
The second round of stimulus checks proposed in the COVID-19 relief bill that Congress passed in December uses similar criteria as the CARES Act to determine which dependents are eligible.
So adult dependents, such as college students, don't qualify for the second stimulus check.
Those who are eligible for relief who have dependent children under the age of 17 will get an additional $600 per child. That's $100 more per child than the first round of relief payments.
Who else isn't eligible for the second stimulus check?
If you're a "non resident alien" in the U.S., then you would not be eligible for a second stimulus check. Those without a Social Security number that is valid for employment also would not be eligible.
The IRS has previously noted that deceased individuals, along with estates or trusts, are not eligible. Despite that rule, a government watchdog report from June found at least 1.1 million stimulus payments were sent to Americans who had died.
One key change from the CARES Act is that households where one spouse doesn't have a Social Security number but others do would be eligible for the second stimulus check. During the CARES Act, households were disqualified from getting funds if a member didn't have a Social Security number.
How much will the stimulus checks be?
The plan that Congress approved and President Trump signed on Sunday night would give most adults a $600 one-time payment, plus $600 per dependent child. The COVID-19 legislation was combined with an end-of-year spending bill and sent to President Trump, who then made a surprise demand for Congress to up that amount to $2,000 stimulus checks.
Democrats plan to call House lawmakers back to Washington for a vote Monday on Trump’s $2,000 proposal, though it would probably die in the Republican-controlled Senate. Republican lawmakers already blocked one effort for $2,000 checks during a Christmas Eve session of the House.
What if my bank account info has changed or was wrong?
According to the IRS website, your payment information cannot be changed. If you don’t get a payment and you are eligible to receive one, it may be claimed on your 2020 tax return as the Recovery Rebate Credit.
What if I don't recognize the bank info show on the IRS Get My Payment Tool?
According to the IRS website, if you receive SSA, RRB, SSI or VA benefits via Direct Express:
If your benefits are currently deposited to a Direct Express card, your Economic Impact Payments will also be deposited to that card. The bank information shown in Get My Payment will be a number associated with your Direct Express card and may be a number you don’t recognize.
RELATED: VERIFY: How both your 2019 and 2020 tax returns will factor into your stimulus payout eligibility
