Where's my stimulus payment (tax rebate)?

The IRS recently posted a new interactive worksheet on its Web site, "Where's My Stimulus Payment?" It's intended to help taxpayers determine the status of their stimulus payment: how much it is, when it should arrive, and how it will be delivered. You only need three pieces of information to use it: the Social Security number of the first person listed on the tax return, filing status (single, married filing jointly, etc.), and the number of exemptions claimed on the return.

You are welcome to try it, but don't be surprised if you end up frustrated. The IRS interactive indeed told how much my husband and I, who filed separately, would receive of the basic stimulus payment by this Friday. But didn't explain why we wouldn't get credit for our 14-year-old daughter, whom my husband claimed as a dependent.

Several colleagues and commenters on this blog tried the system and got the equivalent of no answer at all. One got the response, "We are sorry but we cannot tell you the status of your Stimulus payment." Another got, "We are sorry. Specific information about your Stimulus payment is not available."

In fact, it appears that "Where's My Stimulus Payment" is only useful when the payment is nearly in your hands. As it told one colleague, "Specific information about your Stimulus Payment will not be available until about one week before your payment is scheduled to be issued. " An IRS spokesman told me basically the same thing.

A lot of good that does.

In the mean time, check the IRS's rebate payment schedule, which may be able to tell you the week in which you can expect your rebate.

And if you received your rebate and disagree with the amount or don't understand why you got what you got, call the Refund Hotline at 1-866-234-2942 and wait for a human being. An IRS representative wasn't able to help me because I didn't have certain information at hand, but perhaps you'll be luckier.

--Tobie Stanger

Comments

[Heather]

This is for Brandy. The number I got to call the IRS was1-866-234-2942. That is the rebate hotline. I dont know if that was the number you got. I called them on Monday. I had to wait on hold for about 20 minutes, but I did get through. My last digits are 31. I owed money on my taxes, so that is why I didnt get my refund direct deposited. They had my account number on hand because that is how I paid them...it is all crazy. And, to top it all off, we have moved and they cant forward the checks, so I had to download the change of address form , send it in, and wait for them to get my check back, and reissue it. It will be great...when I get it. Good luck!!

[Lisa B]

We didnt even file untill a couple of weeks ago. Now from what I am reading I suppose we wont recieve anything for some time. Does anyone know the scheduale for those filing after April 15????

[vickie]

I also received error code 1647, I was told by 2 diffeent IRS persons that it means your case is under "review", for many reasons your case can fall under this code, mine is a bankruptcy filed last year and they are checking to see if I owe any money to any governemnt agencies before issung me a check!! When that will be, no one could tell me. My letter said up to 60 additional days!!!

[Elise]

I received the first letter stating that I qualified for a rebate. Based on my social I would be due to receive it on June 6th. Since it is a week late, I checked online and now it says that I don't qualify for a rebate! Well then why said a stupid letter in the beginning saying that I qualify? I was counting on that extra money but it's going to be a no-show. I really lost faith in the government now. I worked all year while being a full-time student. I paid my taxes to the government and this is how they pay me back? Our government is a total and complete joke.

[Thomas]

I filed electronically back in february, direct deposit went fine, I then filed an amended return to claim education credits, I was suppose to get my money on may 9th..no money..called and was told that it was held up due to the amended return and that it would be processed by may 26th and my check would be here its now june 15th, the web site stills say theres a problem. I called last week and they said my amended return was processed on the 5th of june, so where the hell is my money?

[Kiwi]

I just checked my status and got that infamous 1647. Now because my husband owed money (because his employer sucked at doing taxes) from 2006, we didn't get direct deposit this year, and in fact, our entire 2007 return was eaten by this with a $10 balance still due (now if the IRS told me this earlier, I would have just forked over the 10 and been done with it). The woman at the IRS told me in early May that the IRS would write off that $10.00. But for the recorded, we never filed any amended returns, so 1647 can't mean just amended returns.

This whole situation is just bad because my husband's been unemployed for almost a year now, and he has no unemployment benefits. It would be nice to get this whole thing resolved because that money is sorely needed now.

[Lisa]

I filed my taxes, did direct deposit and did not use any services for rapid refunds or pay a tax processor. The date, according to my SS#, for me to receive my rebate has long since come and gone. I didn't get a letter in the mail saying I was going to get one either.....should I be concerned?

[Dana]

1647 just means there is a delay!!! For what ever reason they see fit..... it just means a delay... could be you ammended your return, could mean you owe, could mean anything, but if really means your refund is delayed......
I have been looking at that number for weeks. Called said it was delayed, got a letter on the 16th saying my amended return has been changed and i owe them $3.00, should have the balance within 2 weeks.

[chris]

refrence number 1647 can mean amended or duplicate as in our case.i'm on social security disability but my wife works and we owed nothing to irs or anything else.the kicker is if you filled out those 1040 papers the irs sent you that is what is holding them up under review.i got my letter saying that with ref 1647 and called irs and thats what the second operator told me.if you receive a envelopesaying stimulus payment it may be just a letter saying irs is holding your money under review and not get excited thinking byou recieved your stimulus check
has anyone here received a payment yet ?after theres said was under review yet?i'm guessing instead of taking care of the problem at the time all under reviews are shuffled to the back and will be done after july 11 the last weeek they should have been mailed out

[kb]

This is so crazy. I received a letter yesterday stating that I was entitled to $1200, and that the money would be mailed by 6/27/08. But as I continued to read, it also stated my payment was being delayed. When I went online and called the 800 number, it said that there was a delay, and I was given reference# 1647. Why send a letter stating that your money will be mailed within a few days when there's actually a delay. This is ridiculous. There are so many people who are in need of their money. My letter should not have given a mail date, but instead they should have been straight forward and said "Delay". I'm still confused about 1647. Can anyone help define this stupid reference #.

[Karla]

My stimulus payment page also says 'reference # 1612, I saw one other person posted with it...anyone know what it means?

[LWall]

My situation is similar to most everyone here. Still waiting for stimulus payment. Still unable to reach the IRS. Still confused and frustrated.

For those of you who used Turbo Tax and filed online with direct deposit... were you also advised to file your returns and then file an amendment to get your refund more quickly? We file early and were told that because the govt was still passing tax laws, our refund would be delayed unless we did this. So naturally we followed TT's instructions. Filed return, got refund direct deposited, followed TT's directions and filed amendment to get our remaining $100 refund.

Now it seems because of that advice, we are on some bottomless waiting list for our stimulus payment.

We also received the IRS letter like many of you, which stated our rebate would arrive by mail by June 9th. Of course today is June 25th and still nothing.

I also have that delay code "1647" and have never been able to get through after calling the IRS hotline 10x in the last few weeks. After reading all the posts here I can see that calling the IRS will not yield me any further information.

Meanwhile the bills have piled up, waiting for the money we were supposed to get in May, then beginning of June, now ...?... whenever.

Is there anyone here with the same type of situation who HAS finally received their payment??

And also: what, if anything, is Turbo Tax doing to address the issues that they seemed to have caused? I thought I read some post referring to a TT employee/exec posting here but apparently their words were erased?

Anyone with info, I'd appreciate the sharing!

L. from WI

[Tobie Stanger]

To LWall:
You mention a Turbo Tax executive/employee posting that you say may have been erased. As the administrator of tax-related stuff on this Money Blog, I don't erase comments after I've put them up. But I wrote many blogs on this subject this spring, so if you don't see the comment here, it is probably attached to another blog on the same subject.

I'm afraid I don't have further information from the IRS on this subject...They apparently have been overwhelmed with questions from taxpayers and are working through them.

[Lisa]

To KB:

I also got a letter in the mail on the 14th (however it was dated the 16th) saying my check would come to me by the 20th of June. It has been a week and no check, i checked online and they said there was a delay in processing code #1647. i called them and since 1/2 their system was down all they could say was that they are adjusting my return. I did file an amended return, i ended up oweing, i sent them my check and it has been cashed. It just sucks when you are expecting that money and it doesnt come. I probably wont get it now until after school starts for my son.

[Alison from Colorado]

If you declared bankruptcy in 2007 and havent gotten your rebate check yet, the IRS is holding it illegally. Ive talked to my lawyer about this. My husband and I filed last July and was finalized in the fall. When I called the IRS several times since I shouldve gotten the money in May, they always said that they were holding the money due to the bankruptcy. According to the courts and my lawyer, they cant do this. If you filed bankruptcy in 2007 and had your trustee meeting, the rebate wasnt even decided on yet so it was not ordered for you to pay it even if you had to surrender all or some of your regular tax refund. The IRS is either being dumb or overly cautious. Being that you have to sit on the phone for over an hour to speak to someone because of all the screw ups and lack of planning on their part, Id say they are just dumb. Anyway, you need to contact the bankruptcy dept at the IRS and get things cleared with them in order for them to release your money otherwise you may never get it. Be prepared to hand over copies of your discharge and/or a letter of your bankruptcy attorney or trustee. Just be prepared for them to try to screw around with you...

[rosa luciano]

well i havent received mines either. Hope to receive mines real soon.

[crazy girl]

well i havent gotten stimulus payment yet. I hope that goverment doesnt mess everything like they always do. Hope to RECEIVE my check really soon. from:vineland new jersey

[chris]

i called irs for third time only had to wait 25 minutes this time.as i stated in post above i was told 1647 meant amended or duplicate return and even if you did'nt do any of that stuff and then received any 1040 formns the irs asked you to fill out and send them back instead of calling irs first as i was leary about sending them in that will cause a delay under review to any o0f the codes they give you.heres the kicker they receive your tax form about a week or two before yourf stimulus payment is due to be sent.but if they find a problem or as in my case they read our asw amended or duplicate return on that date.mine was due to be sent out june 6th but when they got to ours on may 26 i was toldby ires operator it could take 8-12 weeks before we receive it aug 18,i'm like what the heck i've sent them emails saying they need to get these kinks worked out ikncase we have another stimulus.the opertor there said he checked and said there not working yet on it and i said duhh!!!why do you think i'm calling.we wer supposed to have ours by june 11 and its june 29 now way to go irs.
i've seen a post on someones board about a rumor of a second stimulus,don't worry about a second one they can't get the first one right.
just my opinion don't you think they should take care of the situation at hand and have it done then instead of throwing under reviews to the back burner at least in our case we owe no money to child support goverenment or back taxes.way to go government all hired by bush i'm guessing.i think you can tell iwon't be voting for a 3rd george bush term aks john mcain.

[Donald]

I currently live overseas and I did my taxes with Turbo Tax. I owed money on both my Federal and State. I paid the turbo tax fee with my credit card but because of my address I was forced to mail in my returns and pay my owed taxes with 2 checks. I requested my Stimulus payment via Direct Deposit and obviously haven't received it or I wouldn't be writing. The Stimulus Payment Status site still says that "specific info could not be found". I emailed IRS and mentioned the Turbo Tax problem and here is what they said:

"If you requested that your electronic filing or tax preparation fee be deducted from the amount of your refund, you have entered into a financial agreement with the tax preparation provider or e-file software company for a Refund Anticipation Check. Both Refund Anticipation Checks and Refund Anticipation Loans are bank products. The money that is deposited into your bank account comes from the financial institution associated with your electronic filing software provider or tax preparation provider, not directly from the Internal Revenue Service. Taxpayers who use Refund Anticipation Loans, Refund Anticipation Checks or enter into similar loans or financial agreements with their tax professional or tax software companies like TurboTax will not receive their economic stimulus payments by direct deposit. Instead they will get a paper check that will be issued according to the schedule that has been published for paper check distribution."

Considering I could not E-file and I paid my owed taxes with checks, should I be expecting a paper check? I hope I am since its July 1 now and the stimulus status says mine (92) will be out by July 11th. Sucks to be last! And they better mail my check overseas too. I suppose I would be getting a paper check as the Direct Deposit would've gone in back in May.
Confirmation?

[John]

For all the people who posted that they finally got to a live person, could you please post what number you called. and how you got to a live person. All i ever get is automated responses that lead to the same info the website has. If I could please sit on hold 2 hours to get to a real person, I'd gladly do it.

[Howard]

My stimulus check should have been mailed by May 16th. I called the Hotline 2 days ago and got the following:
"You did not qualify for the Stimulus payment because the Taxpayer Identification Number shown on your tax return for yourself or your spouse was not valid. You last name and/or Social Security Number din not agree with either our records or those of the Social Security Administration, or you used an IRS issued number such as an Individual Identification Number or IRS number. You must have a valid Social Security to qualify for the Stimulus payment."
My tax preparer is just as perplexed as I am. Has anybody else gotten this message and how do I fix it?

[james]

In order to help those seeking information on how an amended return impacts the Economic Stimulus payment - I amended my return before the April 15th tax deadline due to an error and have checked the IRS 'where is my stimulus payment' link & like everyone else I get the 1647 ref. number. I'd called 1-800-829-0582 ext 726 and spoke with an IRS agent after a 45 min hold and was told that it's taking 12 weeks to process an amended return and after that time I should receive a letter stating that it's been processed. I'm not sure if this means that the stimulus check will follow shortly thereafter or not. In reading a previous comment posted above I find it sad to see someone’s intelligence so limited as to shift blame for their problems on a President and then equate them with a current running Presidential candidate. This really shows how educated you are

[twyla locklear]

was my stimulus payment mailed out today 07/02/08?

[Pepper]

I got the letter saying my check would arrive on May 16, on May 20. It said on the back there was a delay in processing my return. The irs said I should get it according to the paper schedule instead of direct deposit. That is next week, so we will see. I filed an amendment and the irs owes me for it, I have received nothing on it and I'm still waiting for the rebate. No one has any answers, it is frustrating.

[chrystal]

i received a letter saying we would get a check but says my payment has been delayed why would that be?