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

[Cathy]

Howard...I too got the invalid SSN number....what the heck? I have been trying to get a hold of someone at the IRS all day long. This is crazy. Because of the last 2 digits of the SSN we aren't due to get ours until the week of July 4. I am expecting a paper check because I did file my own taxes via snail mail. I did that back in February and received our refund in April.

I agree.....with many comments. This is crazy and uncalled for. And if they do any of these "special programs" they need to have enough people answering the phones that can help. Obviously there are quite a few persons that are having problems with this stimulus payment.

[Amanda]

Hi All,

I e-filed my taxes back in February.. by March when I checked to see where my refund was there was an error. So I called and they told me on there end they received nothing in regards to Wages, Taxable Income.. none of that was transmitted to them (on my forms it was there..) So I then filed an amended return, on May 13th I received my check that I should ave gotten in Februaury direct deposited!! So it's now July 9th and I have received no stimulus, I checked the where's my stimulus and I get " you will not receive one due to not enough wages.. etc.. etc .." I understand it probably goes by your original return but how do people that amended their returns find out when they will get their stimulus ??

I find different answers everywhere.. I get some saying you will receive your's after all of the others (not amended) are sent out.. which could be in August !!! This is ridiculous.. they should have never have posted the calendar of dates if they were going to have all these issues!!

Any Help ??

[Barbara]

I filed a 2007 IRS 1040 form showing 10,945 in Social Security earnings for 2007 on Line 20a. I did not need to pay a tax on that amount so nothing was filled out for Line 20b, and my adjusted gross income, which was very low otherwise, did not reflect these earnings.

I did not receive a letter saying when my stimullus payment would come and called the IRS Rebate Line (866) 234-2942 today. At that phone number, an automated voice stated that I would not be receiving the rebate due to low earnings. I then contacted the IRS directly at (800) 829-1040, pressed "1" when the prompt stated "Preparation of Individual Tax Returns" and was connected to an operator, who put me through to a staff-manned Rebate Line.

When a staff member looked at my original filing, she did not see anything entered on Line 20a, however I have a copy of my original filing and I did enter the appropriate amount of my 2007 Social Security earnings on Line 20a. She stated that staff probably didn't key in the 10,945, so she must have been looking at an electronic copy keyed in by staff.

She said that the remedy to obtain the rebate involved the following steps:

1. You must file a 1040X Amended US Individual Income Tax Return for 2007. The form and its instruction book are on the Internet. The form does not have any space for Line 20a Social Security earnings(!)but on p. 2 there is a space asking why you are amending the form, so I am going to lay the problem out for them in the space provided on p. 2. Apparently you have to go through filing the 1040X to obtain the rebate NEXT YEAR.

2. The instruction book for this form does not give an address to send the form to, so you must ask an IRS staff member at (800)829-1040 where to send the form. Mine goes to a Fresno, California address.

3. You then have to wait until the 1040 forms are published for the 2008 tax year, probably in January. Supposedly on that 1040 form there will be a space to claim the rebate from this year. For me, I need to enclose with the 2008 1040 copies of my original and amended filings for 2007 plus a copy of my SSN-1088 showing my Social Security earnings for 2007 (which I enclosed with my original filing this year to no avail).

This is a lot of work for seniors to do. I wonder if there was a instruction to data entry clerks at the IRS to not add 2007 1040 Line 20a earnings for seniors to their electronic file copies. If this is the case, there will be many many seniors who won't get the rebate. And probably very few of them will take the time and effort to amend their 2007 tax form and ask for the rebate in 2008.

If there is any way for Consumer Reports to check on whether Line 20a earnings are being eliminated from the electronic 2007 1040s it would help other seniors who will probably wait for a rebate that will never come.

[tina]

i also get the delay in processing your payment information anyone know how long this delay could take we were due to have it last week of june last two digits 80. thanks for any response

[Denease]

I am on disability and filled out the 1040 sent from the irs. I owe no taxes, have not filed bankruptcy, etc. I received a letter informing me I would receive my rebate on 7/5. I waited and waited. No stimulus payment. I checked the irs website and it said there was a "delay in processing" and refered to the number 1647. I am not even going to try calling. They will find some reason not to issue the payment...

[Kristopher]

I also havent received my stimulus payment due to the DELAY process of 1647 whatever that means it doesnt list it anywhere and I am still on hold with the irs after 2 hours and still waiting because i need answers if anyone has them here let me know

[Sonya]

So I got the letter saying we would receive our stimulus on June 27th. A week later I checked the website and it to said I was delayed and gave me the code 1647. I have currently been on hold for about 20 mins. But as I get the info I will be putting it in. She just answered and asked me some questions and again I sit on hold. Afer a few mins she came back on the line and gave me another number for the irs 800-913-9358. Ok so we filed chapter 13 last year and it seems that the code 1647 is meaning for us that they are trying to take my stimulus. So Again I am on hold. I should have gotten 1800 back . Probably wont now. So seeking help and doing debt consolidation the gov pretty much just put the screws to me. Ughh. Ok so now on the phone again with a live person. My personal info yet again and I get to listen to the nutcracker again. She is trying to release the check as she says and will be back in just a min. LOL..Please.. I dont think I will see it but just curious as to what she will say......Ok so that is it. The Chpt 13 has got the hold on it. She looked at the court papers and because it says all "Disposable Funds" to be turned over to the Trustee they will get the stimulus. She said she still had my Income Tax return and my stimulus. She is releasing them to the Trustee and we should hear something from the lawyer in about 3 weeks. IF the Trustee decides not to keep the stimulus..Yeah Right.. He will send it to us. So that is what my code meant. Good luck to you all. I guess it goes to show you that the Government is not out for our best intrest ..

[Mandy]

Hey! I was expecting the receive $900 for my stimulus payment (or so says the IRS website). I don't have any back taxes, debt, school loans or child support owed. I filed my taxes way before the deadline (I filed 2/8/08). The mailing date of my check was supposed to be 7/4/08. I figured since that was a holiday, i'd give it a few extra days... YEAH... well, it's now 7/16/08, 12 days after the expected mailing date and 1) no notice in the mail about anything, 2) no check. I'm waiting for this check, but i feel like i'm getting the short end of the stick. Plenty of people that I know got theirs on time or even early, (Including my fiancee), but not me... i'm sitting here waiting for the damn thing every day... Anyone else in this situation? Or have any information about a delay for some reason on the last round of checks? Please let me know... LADYLABLAQ@YAHOO.COM

[Melissa]

After being on hold for 50 minutes, I finally talked to someone at the IRS. I was told that code 1646 means that a duplicate was filed or an amended return was filed. I only filed once in Feb through Jackson Hewitt. I was told that there was an electronic return filed in Feb & a paper in April. I did not file the paper return, only the electronic in Feb.

They then put me through to someone else, who put me back through to the 1-800 # for the stimulus check hotline. It then told me that due to the high volume of calls, I needed to try again later or the next business day!

[Robert Pumphrey]

Check should have been in my hands June 20. I also got reference number 1647. Recording tells me to try again later they are too busy to answer. May never get. It is now July 21.
More gov. B.S.

[Carpenter]

Like others I also receive the 1647 code. I filed an amended return the first week in April so I assume that is the hold up. I have yet to receive the refund from the amendment.. any ideas how long it takes to process an amended return?

[chris]

to james,i belive he is calling me uneducated as why as i'm not going to vote for another george bush 3rd term aka john mcain.did you see how many dollars we are in debt now,when bush came into office he had a surplus.whois the one that is uneducated?hmmmm
my wife and i were one of the people who received letters stating thta our stimulus was under review.i got off the phone this morning,the irs agent today and last week said we are supposed to have our stimulus check mailed by aug 1,2008.the irs website is not accurate when you check status according to last agent i talked too.he said this stimulus thing has become such a mess his exact words today.we'll see if our check comes sholy after that.

[jeninohio]

Well if you have a student loan, bankruptcy, back child support something that's in arrears you won't get your check. I do have another number to keep people from being on hold for forever and a year like I was (1hour 45 min, then another 20 min at the other number) if you have a bankruptcy you can call this number to find out if you can get your check or not. Hope this helps.
1-800-913-9358 its for the Insolvency unit at the IRS>

[Don]

I live overseas and have been waiting months for my rebate to be direct deposited. After a while I figured I would be getting a check in the mail but the other day I GOT MY MONEY!!! :) Because I live overseas, it costs me too much to call the IRS so to this day I still havent called them but I finally got my rebate. I guess for some people, you just need to be patient. My last 2 of my SSN are 92 so I wouldve gotten a check back on July 11th or direct deposited back in May. Its Ausust and it just got direct deposited :) Thank you IRS even though you've been a pain in the ass for the last 6 months since I filed.

[Donald]

Oh yeah, my stimulus payment status still says "no specific information available" even though I already have the money.

[Stacey]

What the hell is is IRS #1647, I was supposed to recieve my payment on July 4th, Given that day was a holiday I figured I would get it on the 11th, instead I got a letter stating the amount I would recieve and that there is a delay and I should get my refund in 6-8 weeks. It is now October 10th. I have call the IRS 6 times and I get no where the words "there is a delay in processing is stuck in my head" Have any of you that have post blogs bofore me recieved your payment or are you still waiting like me?

[Andrew]

Stacey, me too. My payment was due in May. I get the same messages and even a letter telling me how much I will be getting, but nothing. It takes between 30-45min to get to a person each time I call the number on the website. Most people on the line realy could not care any less, rude short and just unwilling to explain. One time I got a guy who was very helpful. Here is what he told me but nobody will confirm again. I filed electronically on Feb 1. In April, someone else filed by paper using my social security number. We spent 30 min going over it and he confirmed it was not me blah blah blah. So now my "case" is under investigation. He assured me that I am still getting the check but it will take a bit longer. His 60 days has now turned into 5 months. Oh and did I mention I am typing this while I am on hold again??? More updates to follow...

Andrewdfw@yahoo.com

[Stacey]

Andrew, thank you for the reply and If you dont mind can you keep me updated on what you find out. I too keep trying to call and I just get angry, you know if it was money that we owed them they sure as hell wouldnt take this long trying to collect it, Thanks again.

[Hideo Simon]

Hello my fellow tax-paying Americans. I am truly grateful for this economic stimulus package as it will help me get my finances under control. This will finally give me the necessary fill for the void that is my household budget's everyday horror. I will be able to look at my wife and say we're going to be OKAY. Everything is going to fall into place, and I will be able to get the rest that I so very need. The world will seem like a grand place again. Happiness will settle over my emotions, and I will kiss my newborn with joy....

UH OH! This is the freakin' message I get on the IRS website checking my status:

"Where's My Stimulus Payment This table describes the status of your refund

You did not qualify for the Stimulus payment because your qualifying income was not high enough. Qualifying income includes wages and net earnings from self-employment that is includable in taxable income, Social Security benefits, certain Railroad Retirement benefits and Veterans disability compensation, disability pension, and survivors benefits received from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Helpful Information:
The 2008 tax instructions will include a worksheet to help those who did not qualify for a payment or those who received a reduced amount determine if they can obtain a benefit when they file their 2008 tax returns next year.

See Stimulus Payments: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions."

I guess if you don't make enough, you don't get enough. That's just how it works. Again, I was just too stupid. Stupid me for thinking these stimulus packages would be for people who need it. Stupid me for thinking. Stupid me for bothering. Stupid me for trying. Stupid me. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Thank you to my country for teaching me another valuable lesson in economic stimulation. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Stacey]

Yes and as I figured, I still dont have my stimulis payment. Got the letter in July saying how much I would recieve , found out there was a delay and they said it would be 8-12 weeks for processing it is now November 11th 2008 and no check. Im so tired of the system. Has anyone waited as long as I have?

[Jackie]

Stacey and Andrew, you have to call and speak to a representative to find out what the delay is if you haven't received any written correspondence from the IRS. The IRS is notoriously bad about NOT sending notifications, or very delayed in doing so. Just sitting around waiting seems silly when you can easily call to find out the delay.

[Michael]

I filed my return and was not eligible for the stimulus based on income. Last week I received a letter from the IRS stating I would be getting a check on 11/14/08, which of course I did not receive. I logged on to Where's my check and got the 1646 message...

[kathy dejesus]

WE HAVE BEEN WAITING SINSE JULY ALSO A DELAY 1647 FIRST IT WAS IDEITY THEFT THEN IT WAS TOO MANY CHECKS NOW THEY JUST DONT KNOW WHAT THIER DOING. WE HAVE 5 KIDS AND THAT MONEY COULD OF CAME IN HANDY FOR CHRISTMAS BUT DUE TO THIER MISTAKES AND CONFUSION WE WAIT. I HAD TO FAX BIRTH CERTIFICATES SOCIAL SECURTIES CARDS IN AUG AND STILL NOTHING. WE GOT THE FIRST LETTER IN JULY STATING 1200 AND NEVER HEARD FROMAGAIN DOES ANYONE GOT A TELEPHONE OR WEBSITE THAT REALLY GIVES REAL INFO

[Clint Vetter]

This stimulus payment screwed me over rather than helping me at all. My wife and I got the full $1200 stimulus and went out and spent it on things we really did not need such as a flat panel TV, because that is what the gov't wanted us to do with it. Now come to find out we won't be getting a refund at all because we have to deduct the $1200 stimulus we received. Had I know that, that money would have gone into our savings account. I think the gov't mislead us into beleiving the money was "free", when in actuality it was your own money that you would have received in february '09 from your 2008 taxes....what a bunch of bull!!!

[darrell]

Great. IRS says I got money but I never received it. Lots of complications here, and I'm near deadline oops.