How can I track when my government stimulus payment is coming?

You can track the status of your CAREs Act stimulus payment (officially called Economic Impact Payments) on the IRS website. Follow these steps to track your payment:

1. Go to the IRS web page here: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment

2. Select the blue button that says "Get My Payment."

NOTE: The name of this button can be misleading. It only gives you information about receiving your payment. It is not used to get your payment.

3. Read the notice, and select the blue "OK" button.

4. Enter your Social Security Number or Individual Tax ID Number (whichever you used to file your taxes), Date of Birth, and Address; then select the blue "Continue" button.

5. The next screen will tell you the date your payment was issued and to what bank account it was sent.

This screen will also state the following: “If you don't see your payment credited to your account, check with your bank to verify they received it. We will mail you a letter with additional information on this payment.”

Some may get a message saying "Payment Status Not Available." The IRS Economic Impact Payment FAQ says that you may get this message for one of the following reasons:

• "If you are not eligible for a payment (see IRS.gov on who is eligible and who is not eligible)
• If you are required to file a tax return and have not filed in tax year 2018 or 2019.
• If you recently filed your return or provided information through Non-Filers: Enter Your Payment Info on IRS.gov. Your payment status will be updated when processing is completed.
• If you are a SSA or RRB Form 1099 recipient, SSI or VA benefit recipient – the IRS is working with your agency to issue your payment; your information is not available in this app yet.

You can check the app again to see whether there has been an update to your information. Get My Payment data is updated once per day, so there’s no need to check back more frequently."

An article by The Verge also says the same message "also appears if you simply enter a made-up social security number, birth date, and address combination, so it appears to be generic catch-all error for the system, instead of a useful or actionable error message."