MA Residents: Check Your Stimulus Payment Status

Rachel Nunes
·3 min read

MASSACHUSETTS — Massachusetts residents are eagerly anticipating a payment expected as part of a $2 trillion federal economic relief package intended to soften the financial and economic blow caused by the new coronavirus pandemic.

Some payments have begun arriving and a new website has been launched to track the status of your money if you have not received it yet. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Internal Revenue Service created an online portal, which launched Wednesday. The portal will help Americans track when the payments are likely to show up in their bank accounts or mailboxes.

Through the "Get My Payment" tool, Americans can not only check on their payment status, but can also confirm payment type (direct deposit or check) and enter bank account information for direct deposit if the Internal Revenue Service doesn't have the information on file.

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To use the tool, you'll input your Social Security Number, date of birth and address. The system will then tell you if your payment is being deposited, or if you need to enter banking information.

Mnuchin said the goal is to use direct deposit for as many payments as possible and avoid mailing checks.

Some Americans reported seeing direct deposits in their bank accounts this past Saturday, and others started seeing deposits Monday. By Wednesday, 80 million people should receive a direct deposit in their bank account, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said.

But when the rest of Americans will receive their money will vary. The first group includes people who have already given their bank account information to the IRS for the direct deposit of tax refunds on 2018 or 2019 tax returns, USA Today reported. Additionally, Social Security beneficiaries who filed federal tax returns that included direct deposit information would be part of that first group.

The second wave of money could hit bank accounts the week of April 20 for a group of people who receive Social Security benefits via direct deposit but may not make enough money to be required to file a federal income tax return in 2018 or 2019.

For those receiving paper checks, the first round is expected to go out in late April or possibly the first week in May. The first checks are supposed to go out to families who have the lowest incomes — possibly those who make less than $10,000 a year, according to USA Today.

Unemployment at record levels in Massachusetts

While the federal stimulus checks will definitely help, more help is needed. A record number of claims have been filed in the past weeks, slowing processing times for claims. According to a new report, unemployment in the state could pass 25 percent by June, more than 10 times the 2.5 percent unemployment rate in February.

Coronavirus in Massachusetts: Latest headlines

This article originally appeared on the Boston Patch