IRS disbursing next batch of stimulus checks

WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — The Internal Revenue Service announced Thursday that the sixth batch of Economic Impact Payments is being disbursed this week.

“The sixth batch of payments began processing on Friday, April 16, with an official payment date of April 21, with some people receiving direct payments in their accounts earlier as provisional or pending deposits,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.

This batch of stimulus checks includes nearly two million payments, with a value of nearly $3.4 billion, as part of the American Rescue Plan, the agency said.

It also includes additional ongoing supplemental payments for people who earlier this year received processed 2020 tax returns.

The Department of Treasury also provided these details about the sixth batch of stimulus checks:

Nearly 700,000 payments, with a value of more than $1.3 billion, went to eligible individuals for whom the IRS previously did not have information to issue an Economic Impact Payment but who recently filed a tax return.
This batch included nearly 700,000 of these “plus-up” payments, with a value of nearly $1.2 billion.
Another 600,000 payments went to Social Security beneficiaries and Supplemental Security Income recipients, including those with foreign addresses.
Overall, this sixth batch of payments contains about 900,000 direct deposit payments (with a total value of $1.5 billion) and nearly 1.1 million paper check payments (with a total value of nearly $1.8 billion).

Congress approved $1,400 stimulus checks in March and the IRS has distributed more than 100 million payments. Additional information is available on the first five batches of Economic Impact Payments from the American Rescue Plan, which began processing on April 9, April 2, March 26, March 19, and March 12.

Individuals can check the Get My Payment tool on the IRS website to see the status of their stimulus and plus-up payments. Additional information on Economic Impact Payments is also available on the IRS website.

Although payments are automatic for most people, the IRS is urging people who don’t usually file a tax return and haven’t received a stimulus check to file a 2020 tax return to receive “benefits they’re entitled to under the law, including tax credits such as the 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and the Earned Income Tax Credit.”

The tax filing deadline is Monday, May 17.