The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is responsible for dispersing the Economic Impact Payments or Stimulus checks to millions of Americans authorized by the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). 

This Wednesday, about 80 million people received their stimulus payments, but many others were left wondering if they would see a check or a deposit in their account, according to a report by CNN.

According to Google analytics, the phrase “Why haven’t I received my stimulus check yet?” is trending on google searches as people wait for their aid.

The IRS began sending out payments via direct deposit the week of April 13, 2020 and will reportedly continue throughout the summer. 

The payments consist of $1,200 for all eligible individuals. 

Two individuals filling a joint return should receive $2,400 and could receive additional $500 for each qualified child claimed as a dependents in tax purposes. 

Those who already filed their 2018 and 2019 tax returns and authorized the IRS to make a direct deposit were the first to receive their stimulus checks. 

From within this criteria, the people with lowest incomes were reportedly first in line. 

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income Recipients, will automatically receive the stimulus payment without having to file a tax return, as the IRS stated they will use what they have on file and should receive a check this week. 

The first paper checks according to the IRS will start being distributed next week to those who haven’t authorized direct deposit in the last two years. 

The checks could take months before they are all distributed as the agency can roughly process 5 million checks a week. 

The IRS developed a new tool, called Get My Payment, which allows people to input their correct bank information for direct deposit if it wasn’t set up yet from the 2018 or 2019 tax return. This tool also allows you to check your payment status, although recent reports have indicated that the system has been experiencing problems at times.

In addition to the Get My payment section, there is also the option for individuals that did not file taxes in 2018 or 2019 to provide simple information to the IRS in order to get a payment, if eligible. 

For more questions of clarifications from the IRS click here.