IRS, Treasury disburse 25 million more Economic Impact Payments under the American Rescue Plan

Social Security and other beneficiaries bring total to more than 156 million payments; VA beneficiaries’ payments to be disbursed on April 14

IR-2021-77, April 7, 2021

WASHINGTON — Today, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service announced they are disbursing more than 25 million payments in the fourth batch of Economic Impact Payments from the American Rescue Plan.

Today’s announcement brings the total disbursed so far to more than 156 million payments, with a total value of approximately $372 billion, since these payments began rolling out to Americans in batches, as announced on March 12.

The fourth batch of payments began processing on Friday, April 2, with an official payment date of April 7, with some people receiving direct payments in their accounts earlier as provisional or pending deposits. Here is additional information on this batch of payments:

• In total, this batch includes more than 25 million payments, with a total value of more than $36 billion.
• The largest block of these payments went to Social Security beneficiaries who didn’t file a 2020 or 2019 tax return and didn’t use the Non-Filers tool last year. More than 19 million payments, with a total value of more than $26 billion, went to these beneficiaries, which include Social Security retirement, survivor or disability (SSDI) beneficiaries.
• More than 3 million payments, with a total value of nearly $5 billion, went to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries.
• Nearly 85,000 payments, with a total value of more than $119 million, went to Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) beneficiaries.
• This batch includes additional ongoing supplemental payments for people who earlier in March received payments based on their 2019 tax returns but are eligible for a new or larger payment based on their recently processed 2020 tax returns. This batch included more than 1 million of these “plus-up” payments, with a total value of more than $2 billion.
• More than 1 million payments, with a total value of nearly $3 billion, went to people for whom the IRS previously did not have information to issue a payment but who recently filed a tax return and qualified for an Economic Impact Payment. Payments to this group -- and the “plus-up” payments noted above -- will continue on a weekly basis going forward as the IRS continues processing tax returns from 2020 and 2019.
• Overall, this fourth batch of payments contains nearly 24 million direct deposit payments (with a total value of over $33 billion) and more than 1 million paper check payments (with a total value of nearly $3 billion).

Additional information is available on the first three batches of Economic Impact Payments from the American Rescue Plan, which began processing on March 26, March 19, and March 12.

No action is needed by most people to obtain this round of Economic Impact Payments. People can check the Get My Payment tool on IRS.gov on to see if their payment has been scheduled.

Payments to non-filer VA beneficiaries will be disbursed on April 14

The IRS continues to review data received from Veterans Affairs (VA), which covers veterans and their beneficiaries who receive Compensation and Pension (C&P) benefit payments who don’t normally file a tax return.

If no additional issues arise, the IRS expects to begin processing these VA payment files at the end of this week. Because the majority of these payments will be disbursed electronically, they would be received on the official payment date of April 14. The IRS projects VA beneficiary payment information would be available in the Get My Payment tool this weekend, April 10-11.

Payments continue to be made rapidly and effectively

The IRS and Treasury are disbursing Economic Impact Payments authorized by the American Rescue Plan quickly and successfully, while improving on previous rounds of payments.

• Within two weeks of the American Rescue Plan becoming law, the IRS and Treasury had started disbursing 127 million payments, including 107 million completed direct deposits. At a similar point during the first round of Economic Impact Payments authorized a year ago, the first payments had yet to be completed.
• Payments to Social Security and other federal beneficiaries are being issued faster than they were during the first round of payments a year ago.
• Approximately 85% of the current round of payments have been made by direct deposit, up from 74% in the first round of payments and 77% in the second round. This helps to expedite payments for millions of American families.
• Direct deposits are also more likely to be successfully delivered than mailed payments, and the return rate of direct deposits is also lower than in previous rounds of payments.
• Over 3.1 million Direct Express cardholders have received payment electronically, more than a half-million more than in previous rounds. Making most of these payments to Direct Express cards enables cardholders, many of whom are unbanked, to receive their Economic Impact Payment the same way they typically receive their federal benefits.

Special reminder for those who don't normally file a tax return

Some federal benefits recipients may need to file a 2020 tax return, even if they don't usually file, to provide information the IRS needs to send payments for a qualified dependent. Eligible individuals in this group should file a 2020 tax return to be considered for an additional payment for their qualified dependent as quickly as possible.

People who don't normally file a tax return and don't receive federal benefits may qualify for these Economic Impact Payments. This includes those experiencing homelessness, the rural poor, and others. Individuals who didn't get a first or second round Economic Impact Payment or got less than the full amounts may be eligible for the 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit, but they’ll need to file a 2020 tax return. See the special section on IRS.gov: Claiming the 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit if you aren't required to file a tax return.

Free tax return preparation is available for qualifying people.

The IRS reminds taxpayers that the income levels in this new round of Economic Impact Payments have changed. This means that some people won't be eligible for the third payment even if they received a first or second Economic Impact Payment or claimed a 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit. Payments will begin to be reduced for individuals making $75,000 or above in Adjusted Gross Income ($150,000 for married filing jointly). The payments end at $80,000 for individuals ($160,000 for married filing jointly); people with Adjusted Gross Incomes above these levels are ineligible for a payment.

Individuals can check the Get My Payment tool on IRS.gov to see the payment status of these payments. Additional information on Economic Impact Payments is available on IRS.gov.