If you receive federal benefits like Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) via Direct Express and are wondering when you should expect your third stimulus check for $1,400, we can help. In this post, we will walk you through everything you need to know about the Direct Express stimulus check, including eligibility, how much you will get in stimulus money, and the timeline for when the funds will be available on your debit card account.
This post will cover:
- How much will I get in the Third Stimulus?
- How Will I Get My Stimulus Check?
- Direct Express Stimulus Check Dates
- Check your Status on the IRS Stimulus Tracking Website
How much will I get in the Third Stimulus?
How much you are eligible for in the third round of stimulus depends on your income.
in general, the IRS will use the most recent tax return information it has on file to determine eligibility for the stimulus payments.
That means that if you are yet to file your 2020 return, your 2019 return will be used.
Here’s the income eligibility for stimulus round three based on Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) from your tax returns:
$1,400 for qualifying adults
2,800 for qualifying couples who file a joint tax return
$1,400 for each dependent child under the age of 17
$1,400 for each qualifying adult dependent
If you’re a single filer, your payment is reduced if your adjusted gross income (AGI) is above $75,000.
For married couples filing jointly, the phaseout begins at an AGI of $150,000. If you file as head of household, the reductions begin at $112,500.
The following income groups will NOT receive a stimulus check in the third round:
$80,000 AGI for single taxpayers
$160,000 AGI for married filing jointly taxpayers
$120,000 AGI for heads of household
Here is a detailed look at the income limits for the stimulus
| Full $1,400 per person maximum (based on AGI) | Not eligible (based on AGI) | |
| Single taxpayer | Less than $75,000 | $80,000 or more |
| Head of household | Less than $112,500 | $120,000 or more |
| Married couples filing jointly | Less than $150,000 | $160,000 or more |
How Will I Get My Stimulus Check?
Just like the first stimulus for $1,200 and the second stimulus for $600, the IRS plans to send the third stimulus using three different payment methods.
Direct deposit
Those who received direct deposit during the second stimulus payment are likely to receive their third stimulus of $1,400 the same way.
Direct Deposit payments will be the first batch of stimulus payments the IRS will send out. This group gets its stimulus money in the first wave.
However, if the IRS encounters problems sending your stimulus payment using the bank or prepaid card information they have on file for you, they will use paper checks or EIP cards instead.
Paper checks
Next, the IRS will issue paper checks to those who did not receive Direct Deposits.
Note that checks may take longer to arrive, especially given the recent delays with the mail at the post office.
EIP Debit Cards
Lastly, the IRS plans to issue prepaid debit cards to some of the people who did not get direct deposits for their stimulus payments.
This card is called the Economic Impact Payment Card (EIP Card), otherwise referred to as the stimulus debit card.
Who gets a paper check and who gets a prepaid debit card is entirely a decision made by the IRS.
Again, similar to paper check EIP cards may take longer to arrive, especially given the recent delays with the mail at the post office.
However, once you receive your EIP card, you can transfer the funds to a bank account.
Direct Express Stimulus Check Dates
As we have mentioned above, the IRS will mail out the third stimulus checks using:
- Direct Deposit
- Paper Check
- Stimulus Debit Card
According to the IRS website, the first batch of stimulus checks went out on March 12th by Direct Deposit.
Since then, the IRS has provided more information about when stimulus checks will be sent out to other groups or eligible recipients.
Here’s what the timeline looks like based on information we have gathered from the IRS website and feedback from our readers.
Here’s the possible timeline for when you can expect your stimulus check.
| Process Remaining for Stimulus Bill | Actual and Future Possible Dates |
| House of Representatives Passes Bill | February 27, 2021 |
| Senate Passes Stimulus Bill | March 6, 2021 |
| House of Representatives Votes on Senate Bill | March 9, 2021 |
| Stimulus bill signed into law by President Biden | Thursday, March 11 |
| First direct deposit check sent by IRS | March 12 (pending), March 17 (official) |
| Direct Deposit Continues | March 15 – March 31 |
| First paper checks sent by IRS | Week of March 22 |
| SSI and SSDI checks sent | Not yet announced (Likely end of March and during the month of April) |
| First batch of paper checks arrive | April 1 – April 15 |
| First EIP Prepaid Debit Card sent by IRS | Week of March 29 |
| First batch of EIP Prepaid Debit Cards arrive | April 7-21 |
| IRS deadline to finish sending checks | Dec. 31, 2021 (mandated by the bill) |
| Last date to receive a check | January 2022 (if checks sent late December) |
| Claims for missing stimulus money open | 2021 tax season likely (in 2022) |
Check your Status on the IRS Stimulus Tracking Website
The IRS Stimulus Check Status Tracker is a tool by the IRS to help get the status of your stimulus check.
Here’s how to use the IRS Stimulus Check Status Tracker to get the status of your $1,400 stimulus payment and check on the first and second round of stimulus payments.
Step 1 – Visit the Get My Payment Website
The first step in getting the status of your stimulus is to visit the “Get my Payment” portal.
Click here to be taken to the Get My Payment portal.
Once there, click the “Get My Payment” link as shown below
Step 2 – Accept Disclaimer
Next, you will be taken to a page where you will have to accept a disclaimer with terms of use of the “Get My Payment” portal in order to proceed.
To accept the disclaimer, click the “OK” link as shown below.
You cannot proceed without accepting this disclaimer.
Step 3 – Enter your Personal Information
Next, you will be taken to a page, like the one below where you will be asked to provide your personal information in order to retrieve your stimulus payment status.
This includes:
- Social Security Number or Tax ID Number
- Date of Birth
- Street Address
- Zip Code
See the image below for details.
Once you enter the requested information, click the “CONTINUE” link for further instructions.
Step 4 – See your Stimulus Check Status
If you entered the correct information requested, you will be taken to a page like the one below where you will see the status of your stimulus check.
If your check has not been sent, it will tell you what you can do to claim your stimulus payment.
On the other hand, if your stimulus payments have been sent, you will see a status update on the date they were sent and how they were sent (Direct Deposit, Paper Check, or EIP Debit Card).
In the example below, the stimulus payment was sent via Direct Deposit.
Step 5 – Log Out
Once you are done viewing your stimulus check status, you should logout.
To logout of the IRS Stimulus Check Portal, click the “EXIT” link at the bottom of the page.
You will then be taken to the page below, which is your confirmation that you have successfully logged out.
What the IRS Status Messages Mean
If you checked the IRS website using the steps above and find out that your stimulus check has not yet been sent, here’s what the status messages mean:
IRS Status Messages
When you use the IRS stimulus check tracker, you will see one of these messages from the Get My Payment tool:
Payment Status #1:
The first type of payment status will say the following:
A payment has been processed, a payment date is available and payment is to be sent either by direct deposit or mail.
Note: mail means you may be issued an EIP Card or a check.
The image below shows what this payment status looks like:
Payment Status #2:
The other type of payment status will say the following:
You’re eligible, but a payment has not been processed and a payment date is not yet available.
It will not show the amount of your 2021 Economic Impact Payment.
Payment Status – Not Available -#1
Payment Status Not Available: We haven’t yet processed your payment or you’re not eligible for a payment.
Need More Information: Your payment was returned to the IRS because the Postal Service was unable to deliver it.
If your address has changed the IRS says the easiest way to update is to file your 2020 tax return with your current address, if you haven’t already done so.
Once they receive your current address, they will reissue your payment.
If you get this message, you can use the “Get My Payment” to enter your bank account information for direct deposit.
Payment Status – Not Available # 2
The second “Non Available” status covers the following scenarios:
The IRS cannot locate your records based on the information you entered.
However, it could also mean that the system has locked you out for excessive attempts to provide the information requested.
You can try in a few hours or the next day.
Direct Express Stimulus Check Summary?
Here’s the bottom line on Direct Express Stimulus Check:
The IRS started sending direct deposits of the third stimulus on Friday, March 12th, 2021.
Additional payments are likely scheduled for the end of March and during the month of April.
However, you can still get a status update on when you can expect your stimulus check using the IRS Stimulus Check Status Tracker.
To do so, you have to log into the IRS’ “Get My Payment” portal and provide your identifying information to get your check(s) status, as described in detail above.
Questions?
We hope this post on Direct Express Stimulus Check was helpful.
If you have further questions about Direct Express card, Social Security, or Disability benefits, please let us know in the comments section below.
Be sure to check out our other articles on:
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