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If you’d like to receive your stimulus check directly through your bank account—rather than having to wait for a paper check to arrive in the mail—time is quickly running out.
For many taxpayers, the deadline to provide the federal government with your direct deposit banking information is Wednesday May 13th at noon ET, according to the IRS. The federal agency has urged people to provide their information through its “Get My Payment” portal by that time; otherwise, they’ll potentially have to wait weeks to receive a check in the mail.
The IRS has already disbursed more than $200 billion in “economic impact payments,” as they’re known, to roughly 130 million Americans in a matter of four weeks since the first payments began going out in mid-April.
Still, tens of millions of Americans have yet to receive their stimulus payments, and the IRS says that it will significantly ramp up the number of paper checks it sends out to Americans after Wednesday. Those checks will begin arriving through late May and into June, according to the agency.
“Time is running out for a chance to get these payments several weeks earlier through direct deposit,” IRS commissioner Chuck Rettig said in a statement.
Of course, actually logging into the “Get My Payment” portal to provide one’s direct deposit information has proven easier said than done, given the technical difficulties encountered by many who have tried to access the site.
While the government claims that it has continued to improve the portal, many users are still experiencing difficulties—though some have found one easy solution, in the form of simply entering their home address in all capital letters.
More personal finance coverage from Coins2Day:
—What to do if you can’t pay your bills this month
—Stimulus checks are depositing: How people are spending the money
—Stuck in the unemployment benefit backlog? What you should know
—What you should know about mortgage forbearance and skipping payments
—Furlough vs. Layoff? What to know about your rights and benefits
—Listen to Leadership Next, a Coins2Day podcast examining the evolving role of CEO
—VIDEO: 401(k) withdrawal penalties waived for anyone hurt by COVID-19
