The good news is that paper checks are supposed to be mailed out starting this week, according to a memo from the U.S. House Committee on Ways & Means.
The IRS expects to issue paper checks on a weekly basis at a rate of about 5 million per week, which is expected to take 20 weeks to complete, the memo states.
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The checks will be issued to the lowest earning citizens first. The highest-income earners will be the last group to receive payment.
The Treasury and IRS initially estimated that about 171 million economic impact payments would be issued, and more than 100 million of the payments would be made by paper check.
But the IRS created an online Get My Payment tool on its website that many people have used to provide their banking information to get their checks quicker.
The House Committee said the IRS’ and Treasury’s estimate of stimulus recipients is likely too low.
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The committee says there are as many as 150 million taxpayers who file returns with incomes that should make them eligible for stimulus money.
Also, there are about 30 million recipients of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income; up to 15 million non-filers who could qualify for payments; 6 million veterans and others who may be eligible.
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The first round of payments went to people whose bank account information the IRS had from federal tax returns, including some Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries who filed tax returns.
The IRS plans to send Social Security beneficiaries their stimulus payments by the end of this month via direct deposit.
The IRS plans to make additional rounds of payments weekly by direct deposit or paper checks.
The IRS says stimulus payments will be made throughout the rest of 2020.
Ohioans who do not receive payment this year can also claim it by filing a tax return for 2020 next year.
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