Treasury Dept. working to iron out 'glitches' in direct deposit, as millions await coronavirus stimulus payment

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Secretary Mnuchin says first coronavirus economic stimulus payments will reach taxpayers within two weeks

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin makes remarks at White House coronavirus task force briefing.

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The Treasury Department said Thursday there have been “glitches” in sending the coronavirus stimulus payments to Americans who qualified for the relief and said they are “actively” working on ways to remedy the situation.

An official from the Treasury Department told Fox News Thursday that the glitches have been related to payments via direct deposit.

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The official said the Treasury Department is actively looking into payments that have yet to be received by those qualifying Americans. This person noted that many who have yet to receive the direct deposit had used H&R Block and Turbo Tax to file their taxes in the past and used the refund anticipation loan programs with the companies. That's a service where taxpayers can pay the company a small fee in order to receive your tax refund immediately, versus getting it a week or two after filing.

A Treasury official said the issue is that those fast tracked refunds are put on debit cards, which means the IRS doesn’t have the filers direct deposit information.

The official told Fox News that the Treasury is aware of the problem and is actively looking into ways to iron out the issue, while maintaining that the program, in general has been expansive and successful.

The Treasury Department’s acknowledgment of the glitches come after The Washington Post first reported that the coronavirus relief checks have yet to hit several million people’s bank accounts, despite the agency’s promise last week that the majority of individuals would receive their payments by the end of the day on April 15.

The Post reported that millions of these individuals used popular tax filing services in the past, and thus, the IRS did not have their direct deposit information on file.

Several million people who filed their taxes via H&R Block, TurboTax and other popular services were unable to get their payments because the IRS did not have their direct deposit information on file, according to the Treasury, companies and experts.

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The IRS on Wednesday launched an online tool, the “Get My Payment” app, to allow taxpayers to give the agency their direct deposit information to help speed up the coronavirus relief payments to Americans.

The majority of eligible Americans – more than 80 million, according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin – who filed their taxes in 2018 and/or 2019 and received a refund via direct deposit had received their stimulus relief payments by Wednesday.

Those who do not file taxes are also now able to go to the IRS website and use the “Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here” section to enter their bank information in order to receive their payment faster than they would via regular mail.

Some Americans can expect to receive paper checks in the mail, but that method of delivery could take months.

As part of the CARES Act, people who file their taxes as individuals are eligible for payments up to $1,200, and couples who file jointly are eligible for up to $2,400 plus an additional $500 per child under the age of 17.

The amount decreases for individuals who earn an adjusted gross income of more than $75,000 and couples who earn more than $150,000 a year, by $5 for every $100 in income above those marks. This means the payment is less the higher their earnings are, with it being reduced to zero for individuals who make $99,000 or more and couples who make $198,000 or more.

People who file as heads of household are eligible for payments of up to $1,200 plus $500 per child under 17. That amount is reduced for people who earn an adjusted gross income of more than $112,000 a year. The extent to which it is decreased depends on how many children they have.

Payment amounts may also be offset by any past due child support payments that have been reported to the Treasury Department.

The payments do not count as taxable income. Similarly, they do not count for determining eligibility for federal programs like Supplemental Security Income.