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Stimulus checks aren’t all arriving at once

3 min read
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Haven’t gotten your stimulus check yet? Patience, please, John Montgomery advises.

“It takes time, logistically, to send out millions of checks. It takes time to process them,” the president and chief executive officer of CB Financial Services Inc., parent of Community Bank, said Tuesday afternoon.

Some individuals awaiting the $600 payment are distressed that others have received their federal payment, figuring all eligible taxpayers should get them at the same time. Montgomery, head of the Carmichaels-based financial institution since mid-August, tells them to relax.

“I would not be concerned unless there is an agenda someone wants to play,” Montgomery added. “We would have to see evidence of that, but I don’t believe there is any.”

Only last Wednesday, the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department began distributing Economic Impact Payments – aka stimulus checks – to qualifying individuals. Those who provided direct banking deposit information to the IRS should receive their funds through an ACH transfer to that account. Others will be paid by check or debit card mailed to them.

This is the second round of stimulus payments, providing a maximum $600 – half of the $1,200 COVID-19 relief disbursed per person during the spring. The $600 payments were approved by Congress on Dec. 21 and signed into law by President Donald Trump.

Most U.S. citizens and resident aliens who meet income requirements, and cannot be claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return, are eligible. Income is based on one’s 2019 adjusted gross income.

Individuals whose AGI is under $75,000, and heads of households earning less than $112,500, usually qualify for $600. Married couples filing jointly, or surviving spouses earning under $150,000, probably will be eligible for a $1,200 payment.

Montgomery isn’t the only banking official, or bank, to attest to the challenges of distributing a large volume of individual payments. First Commonwealth Bank says on its website, fcbanking.com: “We are receiving information for processing direct deposit stimulus payments from the U.S. Treasury in waves. This means that some customers have already seen a transaction from the U.S. Treasury in their account with a postdate of Jan. 4.”

And some have not.

To check on the status of your stimulus payment, go to the “Get My Payment” portal at irs.gov.

Some who qualify for stimulus money may not get it for a while – especially if they filed their federal taxes on paper. A percentage of them, in fact, may still be awaiting the refund they were expecting six months ago.

“I’ve been told there is a backlog for tax returns for 2019,” Montgomery said. “(Because of the pandemic), the IRS has people working at home, are short staffed and have a tremendous backlog.

“With the IRS, anything involving paper takes time.”

Individuals who are eligible for the stimulus, but don’t receive it may be able to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2020 tax return. The credit would increase their refund or lower the amount of the tax they owe, according to irs.gov.

So, be patient.

“Take the 100-mile trek one step at a time,” Montgomery said.

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