WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — The Internal Revenue Service announced that nearly 2 million “plus-up” stimulus payments went out this week as part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
Payments began processing on April 9 to be sent out last Wednesday, but some Americans may have seen provisional or pending deposits in their accounts earlier in the week.
This is the fifth round of stimulus checks and provides qualifying Americans with $1,400. It also offers the plus-up, or supplemental payments, to citizens who previously received partial stimulus payments but can now demonstrate they were eligible for more. The plus-up payments also ensure that early filers whose 2020 tax returns make them, or their dependents, eligible for stimulus money get their payments.
According to the IRS, more than 320,000 payments in this latest roung, worth $450 million, went to Veterans Affairs beneficiaries who receive benefit payments but don’t normally file a tax return and didn’t use the non-filers tool.
Another 850,000 stimulus payments, calculated at almost $1.6 billion, went to eligible stimulus check recipients for whom the IRS didn’t have the necessary information to issue a payment but recently filed a tax return.
There were 7000,000 plus-up payments worth $1.2 billion that went out to taxpayers who either received a partial payment or no payment because of their 2019 tax information, but became eligible for more money in this year’s round of payments after filing their 2020 tax returns.
Finally, 72,000 payments went out to Social Security beneficiaries who didn’t file a tax return in 2019 or 2020 and didn’t use the IRS’ non-filers tool.
“These ‘plus-up’ payments could include a situation where a person’s income dropped in 2020 compared to 2019, or a person had a new child or dependent on their 2020 tax return, and other situations,” the IRS said in a statement announcing the payments.
For instance, someone who filed individually and made $150,000 in 2019 would not have been eligible for a stimulus check during the pandemic because the salary would have exceeded requirements. If that person lost her job at the start of the pandemic and made less than $60,000 over the course of 2020, less than the $75,000 ceiling for individuals, she would be eligible for a plus-up payment after filing her 2020 taxes. If she had a child during that same year, there would be a plus-up stimulus payment for her new dependent as well.
Individuals can check the Get My Payment tool on the IRS website to see the status of their stimulus and plus-up payments. Additional information on Economic Impact Payments is also available on the IRS website.