Our Response to the Second Stimulus

 

On December 29, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Treasury Department started delivering a second round of stimulus payments as a part of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021. These Economic Impact Payments will be made to millions of Americans who received a round of payments earlier in the year.

Following these announcements in recent days, we are experiencing a higher call volume than usual from members looking for information about stimulus payments. We know that these payments are critical to many of our members in these challenging times, and we’re working to answer your questions as best as we can. Because we are unable to provide any information other than what is publicly available, we ask that you visit IRS.gov for more information.

What We Know So Far

 

Some First Service members have already received their payments via direct deposit. According to a statement given by the IRS, direct deposit payments will continue to be delivered through next week. Paper checks were scheduled to be mailed out beginning on Wednesday, December 30.

As your financial institution, we will continue to do all we can to provide timely updates as information becomes available. For the most current news, we are encouraging members to check IRS.gov to stay up to date with announcements as they become available.

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According to the statement made by the IRS, U.S. citizens and resident aliens who are not eligible to be claimed as a dependent on someone else's income tax return are generally eligible for this second payment. Payment amounts may be reduced for individuals whose 2019 adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 and for married couples filing jointly whose adjusted gross income exceeds $150,000.

If you are expecting to receive your payment by direct deposit, you may access your account using digital banking to view recent transactions. If you do not expect to receive your payment by direct deposit, a paper check or debit card will be sent by mail. Payments made by mail are expected to conclude in January.

You can also follow the steps below to set up transaction alerts within digital banking to be notified via email, text message, and/or push notification when a deposit of a certain amount is posted to your account:

  1. Once you’ve logged in to digital banking, navigate to Manage Alerts under Messages & Alerts.

  2. For account-specific alerts, choose the account for which you’d like to receive alerts. Then, open the alert type and click “Add another” to provide the alert details and to indicate the method(s) by which you would like to be alerted.

  3. Click the toggle switch for an alert to enroll. If the switch appears green, the alert is turned on.

  4. You may set alerts for multiple accounts, but they have to be set one at a time unless they are “General” alerts.

According to the statement made by the IRS on December 29, there is no action required by any eligible individual to receive their second payment. The payments are automatic, so the IRS is urging recipients not to contact their financial institutions with questions about when they will receive their payment.

Where are payments being sent?
Payments are being sent according to the information that is already present in the IRS database. This means that taxpayers with direct deposit information on file will receive the payment to the account on file. For those who are eligible who do not have current direct deposit information on file, a paper check or debit card will be sent by mail.

Deposits are being made to the accounts on file with the IRS from 2019 tax filings, which may differ from your personal account if you used a third-party service provider to file taxes in the past. Many Americans took advantage of promotional refund programs offered by third-party service providers in which the provider paid the refund directly to the individual, whether in part or in whole. When the refund was actually issued by the IRS, it was deposited into a special account set up by the service provider, so some individuals’ stimulus payments are going to those third-party providers’ accounts.

If you filed your 2019 tax return with such a provider, you will need to contact that provider directly to find out if they have received a stimulus payment that was intended for you or your family.

The newly-enacted legislation is allowing for payments up to $600 for qualifying individuals and $1,200 for married couples filing a joint return. Families with qualifying children will also receive $600 for each qualifying child. Dependents who are 17 and older are not eligible for the child payment.

Additionally, should any additional legislation be passed to increase the payment amount, the Economic Impact Payments that have already been issued will be topped up as quickly as possible.

The IRS is using the information it currently has available to determine where payments will be sent. Taxpayers with direct deposit information on file will receive the payment to the account on file. For those who are eligible who do not have current direct deposit information on file, a paper check or debit card will be sent by mail. Payments made by mail are expected to conclude in January.

For anyone who is eligible to receive a payment but does not, a claim may be filed in 2021 on the individual's 2020 tax return.

If you are unsure whether you should expect a payment, you can use the Get My Payment tool on IRS.gov.

Most people who received Social Security retirement and disability benefits, railroad retirees, and those receiving veterans' benefits won't need to take any action to receive a payment. The IRS worked directly with the appropriate agencies earlier in 2020 to gather the information needed to send payments out in the same manner that benefits are normally paid. If any eligible person in this group did not receive their Economic Impact Payment, they will be able to file a 2020 tax return.

Social Security beneficiaries, as well as beneficiaries of other programs, who received their first stimulus payment via Direct Express will receive the second payment the same way.

Additional Resources

 

For the latest information, please check the following resources:

At First Service, we will continue to provide updates as we are able. However, we strongly encourage members to check the resources provided above to stay up-to-date with developments regarding the second stimulus payment.