Updated Oct. 22, 2008 Following are answers to questions regarding the economic stimulus payments. Scroll down the list for information on when to expect a payment or choose from one of the following categories: Eligibility When Will I Get the Payment? Did I Get the Right Amount? Amended Returns Change of Address Taxpayer Identification Numbers Direct Deposit Armed Forces Business Taxpayers Outside the U.S., Offsets and Other Questions When Will I Get the Payment? Q. When will I receive my stimulus payment? A. The Treasury Department began making payments on April 28 and more than 120 million taxpayers received their payments by mid-July. Individuals who filed their returns close to or after April 15 should allow a minimum of eight weeks for the IRS to process their returns. Processing times for tax returns and stimulus payments vary. If you are getting a regular tax refund, the IRS will send you that refund first. Normally, your stimulus payment will follow one to two weeks later. If you are not expecting a regular tax refund, it will generally take a minimum of eight weeks after you file your return to get your stimulus payment. Q. Will my stimulus payment be included in my regular tax refund? Will the checks or direct deposits come at the same time? A. No and no. There will be two payments. You will receive one payment for your regular tax refund and later you will receive a separate stimulus payment. Q. After my family didn't receive a stimulus payment earlier this year, I was surprised to learn my name didn't match my Social Security Number. When will we get the stimulus payment? A. The IRS began sending letters and economic stimulus payments in late October to married taxpayers whose names did not match Social Security records. Taxpayers will begin receiving these payments by Direct Deposit as early as Oct. 24. Paper checks will arrive in early November. These taxpayers were inadvertently omitted from the initial economic stimulus payments. During the processing of their 2007 returns, however, the IRS determined that the person listed on the return actually was the person associated with the SSN. They will receive a letter from the IRS stating the amount of their payment approximately two weeks before receiving the payment itself and will not need to take any additional action. People also can use Where's My Stimulus Payment? (Note: no longer available) to track their payments. These Economic Stimulus Payments are being made to approximately 53,000 additional married taxpayers. The IRS initially estimated that mismatches involving Social Security numbers delayed the processing of 260,000 economic stimulus payments. After additional review, IRS found that the figure was lower. The IRS regrets the inconvenience for these affected taxpayers and will continue to work hard to deliver stimulus payments to qualifying taxpayers. The agency continues to reach out to an estimated 4.3 million retirees and veterans who may be eligible but have not filed for their stimulus payment. As of Sept. 30, the IRS had issued nearly 116 million payments totaling over $94 billion.
