Stimulus Check Amount Calculation and Payment
My wife and I earned between $150K and $200K in both 2018 and 2019, meaning we are eligible for a reduced stimulus check payment. We earned a bit less in 2019. Stimulus check amounts are reduced by a certain percentage for every dollar a married couple filing jointly made over $150K and less than $200K.
I filed our taxes on April 23rd.
When checking the IRS.GOV site in the “Get My Payment” section, I get a message that we are eligible for a stimulus check. After entering the requested information (including banking information to allow for direct deposit) I get the following message:
“Your information does not match our records….If you used information from your 2019 tax return, the return may not have been processed yet. Please enter information from your 2018 return and try again.”
Since we are eligible for a larger payment if the stimulus check is based on our 2019 income, I would obviously rather not have the check based on our 2018 income.
My question – is it best to wait a few weeks until the 2019 return is processed? How long does that take? Will waiting a few weeks endanger the payment itself? Or is the 2018 amount “locked into” the IRS calculation?
Any ideas on how to proceed are appreciated. Thanks.
Terry Says
It’s a tossup, frankly. And ignore that website, because it’s all messed up and will drive you crazy.
Now you have to wait and see which return they used to calculate your payment (which is reduced by $5 for every $100 over the limits). There may be a way to protest an incorrect stimulus amount, but they haven’t announced how that would happen yet.
And it could take another 4-6 weeks to get your check.
