Where is my stimulus money from the IRS?

Jo Willetts, EA Director of Tax Resources, Jackson Hewitt Published On April 15, 2020

Taxpayers are anxiously awaiting stimulus money from the IRS. During these unprecedented times, we know taxpayers could really use stimulus money to offset the economic hardship caused by the Coronavirus. While many details are still unknown, and conflicting information has been circulating and causing confusion, we are committed to providing you with the latest updates to some of the frequently asked questions.

How you received your latest tax refund:

Refund on Prepaid Card without Refund Advance or Assisted Refund or Split Disbursement on a Walmart e-gift card

How you will receive stimulus: Direct Deposited onto Prepaid Card

When your stimulus payment is expected to be sent: Wednesday, April 15, or soon afterwards

What we know today:

Your stimulus funds should be direct deposited to the prepaid card account on your latest tax filing.

If you would like to provide the IRS with direct deposit information for your bank account or your prepaid card you may do so:

Go to the IRS Get My Payment page where you can find your payment status, type, and update your direct deposit information.
In order to access the IRS application and update your bank information, you will need to provide your 2019 (or 2018) Adjusted Gross Income and Federal Tax Refund Amount. You can get that information from MyJH by following these instructions.
Ensure that your direct deposit information matches your prepaid card account information.
Once you have updated the IRS with your account information, your funds should be deposited to that account. Payment status updates are made only once a day.

If you have a prepaid card, you might receive an email that provides your account and routing number. If you are email verified, you will also receive a notification if funds are deposited onto your card. If you don’t get an email, log into your prepaid card account to access your account information.

IMPORTANT: The IRS will never send stimulus funds to Jackson Hewitt.

Refund on Prepaid Card with Refund Advance, Assisted Refund or Split Disbursement on a Walmart e-gift card

How you will receive stimulus: The IRS has not yet announced if stimulus payments will be disbursed through prepaid cards

When your stimulus payment is expected to be sent: The IRS has not provided information on timing.

What we know today:

The IRS will likely send you a check in the mail to the address on your latest tax filing.

If you have already filed your 2019 tax return, payment will be mailed to the address on file.
If you have not filed your 2019 tax return, enter your new address on your 2019 tax return when you file.

If you would like to provide the IRS with direct deposit information for your bank account or your prepaid card you may do so:

Go to the IRS Get My Payment page where you can find your payment status, type, and update your direct deposit information.
In order to access the IRS application and update your bank information, you will need to provide your 2019 (or 2018) Adjusted Gross Income and Federal Tax Refund Amount. You can get that information from MyJH by following these instructions.
Ensure that your direct deposit information matches your prepaid card account information.
Once you have updated the IRS with your account information, your funds should be deposited to that account. Payment status updates are made only once a day.

ALERT: Some customers may see an error that their direct deposit information is not available. Please try again. This may be a temporary glitch with the IRS site. Most clients should be able to update their information by trying again later.

Unfortunately, Jackson Hewitt does not have information related to the timing of the IRS deposits into your account.

IMPORTANT: The IRS will never send stimulus funds to Jackson Hewitt.

Refund to bank account direct deposit with no Assisted Refund

How you will receive stimulus: Direct Deposited to same bank account

When your stimulus payment is expected to be sent: Wednesday, April 15, or soon afterwards

What we know today:

Your stimulus funds should be direct deposited to the prepaid card account on your latest tax filing.

If you would like to provide the IRS with direct deposit information for your bank account or your prepaid card you may do so:

Go to the IRS Get My Payment page where you can find your payment status, type, and update your direct deposit information.
In order to access the IRS application and update your bank information, you will need to provide your 2019 (or 2018) Adjusted Gross Income and Federal Tax Refund Amount. You can get that information from MyJH by following these instructions.
Ensure that your direct deposit information matches your prepaid card account information.
Once you have updated the IRS with your account information, your funds should be deposited to that account. Payment status updates are made only once a day.

IMPORTANT: The IRS will never send stimulus funds to Jackson Hewitt.

Refund to bank account with Assisted Refund

How you will receive stimulus: Direct Deposited to the bank account you used for Assisted Refund

When your stimulus payment is expected to be sent: The IRS has not provided information on timing yet

What we know today:

The IRS may send these stimulus payments either to the bank account on your latest tax filing or it may send you a check in the mail.

If you receive a check, please note:

If you have already filed your 2019 tax return, payment will be mailed to the address on file.
If you have not filed your 2019 tax return, enter your new address on your 2019 tax return when you file.

If you would like to provide the IRS with direct deposit information for your bank account or your prepaid card you may do so:

Go to the IRS Get My Payment page where you can find your payment status, type, and update your direct deposit information.
In order to access the IRS application and update your bank information, you will need to provide your 2019 (or 2018) Adjusted Gross Income and Federal Tax Refund Amount. You can get that information from MyJH by following these instructions.
Ensure that your direct deposit information matches your bank account information.
Once you have updated the IRS with your account information, your funds should be deposited to that account. Payment status updates are made only once a day.

IMPORTANT: The IRS will never send stimulus funds to Jackson Hewitt.

Paper Check without Assisted Refund

How you will receive stimulus: Paper check mailed to address on your most recent tax return

When your stimulus payment is expected to be sent: Beginning in late April

What we know today:

The IRS will likely send you a check in the mail to the address on your latest tax filing.

If you receive a check, please note:

If you have already filed your 2019 tax return, payment will be mailed to the address on file.
If you have not filed your 2019 tax return, enter your new address on your 2019 tax return when you file.

If you would like to provide the IRS with direct deposit information for your bank account you may do so:

Go to the IRS Get My Payment page where you can find your payment status, type, and update your direct deposit bank information.
In order to access the IRS application and update your bank information, you will need to provide your 2019 (or 2018) Adjusted Gross Income and Federal Tax Refund Amount. You can get that information from MyJH by following these instructions.
Ensure that your direct deposit information matches your bank account information.
Once you have updated the IRS with your bank account information, your funds should be deposited to that account. Payment status updates are made only once a day

IMPORTANT: The IRS will never send stimulus funds to Jackson Hewitt.

Paper Check with Assisted Refund

How you will receive stimulus: Paper check mailed to address on your most recent tax return

When your stimulus payment is expected to be sent: Beginning on Wednesday, April 15, and ongoing weekly.

What we know today:

The IRS will likely send you a check in the mail to the address on your latest tax filing.

If you receive a check, please note:

If you have already filed your 2019 tax return, payment will be mailed to the address on file.
If you have not filed your 2019 tax return, enter your new address on your 2019 tax return when you file.

If you would like to provide the IRS with direct deposit information for your bank account you may do so:

Go to the IRS Get My Payment page where you can find your payment status, type, and update your direct deposit bank information.
In order to access the IRS application and update your bank information, you will need to provide your 2019 (or 2018) Adjusted Gross Income and Federal Tax Refund Amount. You can get that information from MyJH by following these instructions.
Ensure that your direct deposit information matches your bank account information.
Once you have updated the IRS with your bank account information, your funds should be deposited to that account. Payment status updates are made only once a day.

IMPORTANT: The IRS will never send stimulus funds to Jackson Hewitt.

No Refund (Balance due or no bank information on file)

How you will receive stimulus: Paper check mailed to the address on your most recent tax return or direct deposited to the bank account on your most recent tax return

When your stimulus payment is expected to be sent: Beginning on Wednesday, April 15, and ongoing weekly.

What we know today:

The IRS will not send Payments to accounts used to make a payment to the IRS for customers with balance due. The IRS is encouraging to utilize the Get My Payment tool to submit your bank account information if your Payment has not been processed. If the IRS does not receive your bank information, your Payment will be mailed to the address the IRS have on file for you.

If you receive a check, please note:

If you have already filed your 2019 tax return, payment will be mailed to the address on file.
If you have not filed your 2019 tax return, enter your new address on your 2019 tax return when you file.

If you would like to provide the IRS with your direct deposit information for your bank account you may do so:

Go to the IRS Get My Payment page where you can find your payment status, type, and update your direct deposit bank information.
In order to access the IRS application and update your bank information, you will need to provide your 2019 (or 2018) Adjusted Gross Income and Federal Tax Refund Amount. You can get that information from MyJH by following these instructions.
Ensure that your direct deposit information matches your bank account information.
Once you have updated the IRS with your bank account information, your funds should be deposited to that account. Payment status updates are made only once a day.

IMPORTANT: The IRS will never send stimulus funds to Jackson Hewitt.

While the table above reflects what we anticipate happening, there might be a small group of clients with prepaid cards, Refund Advances, Assisted Refunds or or Split Disbursements on Walmart e-gift cards whose funds will be routed to Republic Bank because the bank account on the IRS’ Get My Payment tool will show an account ending with the last 3 digits of the taxpayer’s SSN plus a zero. IMPORTANT: For any stimulus payments that Republic might receive, it will process these to allow the stimulus payments to be disbursed in the same manner as you chose to have your refund disbursed during the tax interview – direct deposit, prepaid card, or mailed check.

Jackson Hewitt clients who have received funds through Republic Bank in the past and whose name or address has changed since receiving their most recent payment, may wish to request to update this information with Republic Bank at https://jhclientforms.zendesk.com/hc/en-us.

We are currently experiencing drastically higher than usual call volume. Like many industries, staffing for our contact center has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic which is also affecting our answer times. Please do not attempt to call Customer Support at this time unless you have an urgent matter to discuss.

The IRS has launched its Get My Payment page where you can find your payment status, type, and update your Direct Deposit Bank Information if the IRS needs more information from you.

In order to access the IRS stimulus portal and update your bank information, you will need to provide your 2019 Adjusted Gross Income and Federal Tax Refund Amount. The easiest and fastest way to obtain this information from the Tax Benefits Comparison Summary, which is in the paperwork given to you by your Tax Pro before you left the office. On the Summary grid, look for Total Adjusted Gross Income in the 2019 column. This is near the middle of the page. Then go to the last line in the grid to find your Federal Refund amount, also in the 2019 column.

Alternatively, you can reach out to your tax preparer to request your Adjusted Gross Income and Federal Tax Refund information or log onto your MyJH account. Learn how by following these instructions.

If your Serve Card has been lost, stolen, or damaged, you can easily request a replacement online here. Alternatively, you can go to Serve.com/jacksonhewitt/ and select “Request Replacement Card” from the Account Settings page after securely logging in. Know that your replacement card will be mailed directly to you at the address on file. You can update your address when requesting a replacement card if needed.

Go to the IRS Get My Payment page where you can find your payment status, type, and update your direct deposit information.

You have three options to access your Serve account and routing number to update your direct deposit information:

Log into your Serve account.
Log into the Serve mobile app.
If you have already verified your email address, you may have received an email from Serve on Friday, April 17^th with your account and routing information.

You should go to IRS.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment where you can find your payment status, and type, and update your direct deposit information. If the IRS has deposited your stimulus funds onto an active American Express Serve or Bluebird Card, but you no longer have your card, you can request a replacement online by logging into your Account at Serve.com/Jacksonhewitt, Serve.com, or Bluebird.com.

Serve customers who would like to receive their stimulus payment to their Serve Account should confirm their direct deposit information with the IRS and update it if necessary. They will need to provide their Adjusted Gross Income and Federal Tax Refund Amount, which can be found in their MyJH accounts. Step-by-step instructions for accessing one’s MyJH account can be found online at https://www.jacksonhewitt.com/support/tax-return-information-for-stimulus/. Please note that Jackson Hewitt and its tax preparers have not and will not receive funds from the IRS to distribute taxpayers.

Jackson Hewitt offers clients a variety of products that help them pay their fees, get their refund more quickly or obtain an advance of your refund proceeds. These products may be disbursed to you through various methods, including direct deposit to your personal bank account, a check printed via your local Jackson Hewitt tax preparer or funds loaded onto a Prepaid Card or Walmart e-gift card. The IRS refers to these group of different products as refund settlement products.

In most cases, if you received a refund settlement product you are likely to receive a check in the mail unless you have updated the IRS Get My Payment portal with your direct deposit information. In some rare cases, the IRS may have directed your stimulus payment to the bank account associated with the refund settlement product, so you may not recognize the account information on the IRS Get My Payment portal. In these cases, your stimulus payment will then be processed by Republic Bank and it will follow the same disbursement method you chose for your refund.

If you received a refund settlement product, please review the tables above for additional information on the most likely scenarios of how your stimulus payment may be delivered.

Please be advised of the following scenario where Republic Bank will reject a stimulus payment and send it back to the IRS:

If you filed your 2018 tax return with Jackson Hewitt using a refund settlement product and you have not yet filed a 2019 tax return, should Republic Bank receive your stimulus payment, Republic Bank will return your stimulus payment to the IRS. Once the IRS receives and processes a rejected payment, the payment will automatically be mailed via check to the address on your most recent tax return, or the address on file with the U.S. Postal Service (depending on which is more current). The status in the Get My Payment tool will then update accordingly.

Jackson Hewitt will continue to provide critical updates regarding the Coronavirus Stimulus release, the impacts of the CARES Act on your taxes, and many other critical questions regarding taxes. For additional information regarding Jackson Hewitt’s response to Covid-19, including a stimulus calculator to see what you may be eligible for, please reference our Coronavirus and Stimulus Hub. To learn more about the efforts of the IRS and Treasury Department to address this ongoing crisis, visit https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus.

About the Author

Jo Willetts, Director of Tax Resources at Jackson Hewitt, has more than 25 years of experience in the tax industry. As an Enrolled Agent, Jo has attained the highest level of certification for a tax professional. She began her career at Jackson Hewitt as a Tax Pro, working her way up to General Manager of a franchise store. In her current role, Jo provides expert knowledge company-wide to ensure that tax information distributed through all Jackson Hewitt channels is current and accurate.

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