Get My Payment Frequently Asked Questions

Notice: Historical Content


This is an archival or historical document and may not reflect current law, policies or procedures.

The following questions are regarding the Get My Payment application. 

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Using Get My Payment

To use Get My Payment, you must first verify your identity by answering security questions. (See Error Messages/Lockouts for more information if you can't access Get My Payment.)

If your answers don’t match our records multiple times, you’ll be locked out of Get My Payment for 24 hours for security reasons. If you can’t verify your identity, you won’t be able to use Get My Payment. Don’t contact the IRS for assistance with a lockout; IRS assistors can’t unlock your account. For more information, see Error Messages/Lockouts.

If you can’t get your payment status because you’ve been locked out, you must wait 24 hours and try again.

If you verified your identity and received “Payment Status Not Available,” this means either we have not processed your payment yet, we do not have enough information to issue you a payment or you are not eligible for a payment.

Either spouse can use Get My Payment by providing their own information for the security questions used to verify their identity. Once verified, the same payment status will be shown for both spouses.

Eligible federal benefit recipients who do not usually file a tax return will be able to use Get My Payment to check their payment status for their own payment when it’s been issued.

The IRS worked with other federal agencies to get updated information for recipients to ensure we send automatic payments to as many people as possible.

If you do not receive the third economic impact payment, you  may be eligible to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit but you must file a 2021 tax return to claim the credit.

Yes, you can use Get My Payment.

Enter your ITIN in Get My Payment to check the status of your third Economic Impact Payment. 

Payment Status

Get My Payment shows when and how your third Economic Impact Payment was sent. To find your payment amount, create or view an online account or refer to IRS Notice 1444-C. 

If you’re eligible for a plus-up payment, Get My Payment will show the status of this additional payment, and will no longer show the status of your initial third payment. 

Get My Payment displays these messages:

Payment Status:

If you get this message, either:

  • A payment is processed, with the date and method (direct deposit or check by mail or debit card) listed.

or

  • You are eligible, but a payment has not been processed and a payment date is not available.

Payment Status Not Available:

If you get this message, either we have not yet processed your payment, or you are not eligible for a payment. If you do not receive your payment in 2021 or are eligible for more based on your 2021 status, you may be eligible to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit when you file your 2021 tax return.

Need More Information:

If you get this message, your payment was returned to the IRS because the post office was unable to deliver it. The IRS is no longer accepting bank account information through Get My Payment. If you do not receive your payment in 2021, you may be eligible to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit when you file your 2021 return.

Your payment may have been sent by mail because the bank rejected the deposit. This could happen because the bank information was invalid or the bank account has been closed.

Note: You can’t change your bank information already on file with the IRS for your Economic Impact Payment. Don’t call the IRS, our phone assistors won’t be able to change your bank information, either.

If you see "Need More Information" in Get My Payment, it is because:

  • Your 2020 return was processed, and we don’t have bank account information for you and your payment has not been issued yet

or

  • The post office was unable to deliver your third Economic Impact Payment and returned it to the IRS.

The IRS is no longer accepting bank account information through Get My Payment. If you do not receive your payment in 2021, you may be eligible to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit when you file your 2021 return.

The Get My Payment application will return "Payment Status Not Available" if:

  • We haven’t yet processed your Economic Impact Payment;
  • We don’t have enough information to issue you a payment; or
  • You aren’t eligible for a payment.

Please check the Get My Payment tool for updates on your payment status.

Get My Payment will not show the amounts of your Economic Impact Payments.
To find the amounts of these payments:

  • Create or view your online account;
  • Refer to IRS Notices 1444 (first payment), 1444-B (second payment) or 1444-C (third payment), which the IRS mailed after the payments were issued; or 
  • Request an account transcript online or by mail using Get Transcript.

If you received joint payments with your spouse, the letters and account transcript show the total amount of each payment. If you file separate 2020 tax returns, each of you must enter half of the amount of the payment.

Didn’t receive a full first or second payment? File a 2020 tax return — even if you aren’t required to file — and claim the 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit if you’re eligible.

For the third round, if you are sent a plus-up Economic Impact Payment after your 2020 tax return is processed:

  • The amount of your initial third payment will no longer show in your online account. You will only see the amount of your most recent payment. If it’s the plus-up payment, then this is what you’ll see.
  • The status of your initial third payment will no longer show in Get My Payment. You will only see the status of your plus-up payment.

Payment status: Where’s My Refund and Online Account will not provide the status of your Economic Impact Payments. Get My Payment is the only option available to get your payment status.

Payment amounts for filing: You can check the amounts of your Economic Impact Payments through your online account under the section “Economic Impact Payment Information” on the Tax Records page.

  • The first and second payment amounts can help you accurately calculate any 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit you may be eligible for on your 2020 tax return.
  • The third payment amount can help you accurately calculate any 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit you may be eligible for on your 2021 tax return.

For additional information regarding the credit, see Recovery Rebate Credit.

 Address Information

The easiest way to update your address with the IRS is to file your 2020 tax return with your current address. Your payment can only be sent if we receive an updated address in time to issue your payment before December 31, 2021. This includes payments returned to the IRS because they couldn’t be delivered to you for any reason and you request to have it reissued. 

If you do not receive your payment in 2021, you may be eligible to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit when you file your 2021 return.

For other ways to update your address with the IRS, see How do I notify the IRS my address has changed?

Missing Payments

Once we receive your payment back, your payment can only be reissued if we receive an updated address in time to send another payment before December 31, 2021. If you do not receive your payment in 2021, you may be eligible to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit when you file your 2021 return.

For other ways to update your address with the IRS, see How do I notify the IRS my address has changed? 

In some cases, married taxpayers who file a joint tax return may get their third payment as two separate payments; half may come as a direct deposit and the other half will be mailed to the address we have on file. This is generally the address on the most recent tax return or as updated through the United States Postal Service (USPS).

The second half may come the same week or within weeks of the first half. Each taxpayer on the tax return should check Get My Payment separately using their own Social Security number to see the status of their payments. 

Error Messages/Lockouts

Your account has been locked for 24 hours. This occurred because:

  • Information you entered doesn’t match our records – for security reasons we limit each user to 3 failed attempts per 24-hour period; or
  • You have already accessed the system the maximum number of times within 24 hours – we limit each user to 5 logins per day to manage system capacity.

The lockout will only release when the 24 hours have passed. Don’t contact the IRS for assistance with a lockout. IRS assistors can’t unlock your account.

If the information you enter to verify your identity in Get My Payment doesn’t match our records, you’ll receive an error message. To avoid this:

  • Double-check what the application is requesting.
  • Make sure what you enter is accurate.
  • Try entering your street address in a different way (for example: 123 N Main St instead of 123 North Main St.). 
  • Use the U.S. Postal Service’s ZIP Lookup tool to look up the standard version of your address and enter it into Get My Payment exactly as it appears on file with the Postal Service.

Note: If you enter information that doesn’t match our records three times within 24 hours, you’ll be locked out of Get My Payment for security reasons. You’ll be able to access the application again after 24 hours. Don’t contact the IRS for assistance with a lockout: IRS assistors can’t unlock your account.

Bank Account Information

Your bank account information cannot be changed.

The bank account information in Get My Payment came from one of the following sources:

  • Your 2020 tax return.
  • Your 2019 tax return if your 2020 return was not processed when we started issuing payments.
  • Information you entered on your Non-Filer registration in 2020.
  • Information you entered on Get My Payment.
  • A federal agency that provides you benefits, such as: the Social Security Administration, Veteran Affairs or the Railroad Retirement Board.
  • Federal records of recent payments to or from the government, where available, for those without direct deposit information on file with the IRS.

If you don’t recognize the bank account number displayed in the Get My Payment tool it does not mean your deposits were made to the wrong account or that there is a fraud. If you do not recognize the account number, it may be an issue related to how information is displayed in the tool tied to temporary accounts used for refund loans/banking products. You do not need to complete Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit. 

If your bank information is invalid or the account has been closed, the bank will return your payment to the IRS. We will mail it to you by check at the address we have on file if it can be issued before December 31, 2021. If you do not receive your payment in 2021, you may be eligible to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit when you file your 2021 return.

If you did not file a tax return and you receive SSA, RRB, SSI or VA benefits and your benefits are currently deposited to a Direct Express card, then your third Economic Impact Payment will be deposited to that card. The bank information shown in Get My Payment will be a number associated with your Direct Express card and may be a number you don’t recognize.

For those without direct deposit information on file with the IRS, the IRS used federal records of recent payments to or from the government, where available, to make the payment as a direct deposit. This helped to expedite payment delivery.

If you don’t recognize the bank account number displayed in the Get My Payment tool it does not mean your deposits were made to the wrong account or that there is a fraud. If you do not recognize the account number, it may be an issue related to how information is displayed in the tool tied to temporary accounts used for refund loans/banking products. You do not need to complete Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit. 

EIP Card (Debit Card)

The EIP Card is a debit card sent by U.S. mail in a white envelope with the U.S. Department of the Treasury seal and a return address from "Economic Impact Payment Card.” 

The card has the Visa name on the front and the issuing bank, MetaBank®, N.A., on the back. Information included with the EIP Card explains that this is your Economic Impact Payment. If you receive an EIP Card, visit EIPcard.com for more information.

No, we will not add funds to an EIP Card that we already issued for a previous payment. When 2021 payments were issued and the IRS did not have account information available to issue you a direct deposit, you may have been mailed a check or an EIP Card.

The EIP card was mailed in a white envelope with a return address from "Economic Impact Payment Card” with the U.S. Department of the Treasury Seal. The card has the Visa name on the front and the issuing bank, MetaBank®, N.A., on the back. Information included with the EIP card explains that this is your Economic Impact Payment. If you received an EIP Card, visit EIPcard.com for more information.

EIP cards are sponsored by the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, managed by Money Network Financial, LLC, and issued by Treasury’s financial agent, MetaBank®, N.A.