How to Check Your Stimulus Payment Status on IRS.gov

What the IRS "Get My Payment" tool does and does not do

The IRS "Get My Payment" tool on IRS.gov lets you see the status of a stimulus payment the federal government sent you during the pandemic — whether it was delivered, when, and by what method (direct deposit, check, or debit card). It does not let you request a payment, change your bank account, or fix errors in your tax record. It only shows you information about payments already issued.

The tool covers stimulus payments from three rounds: the 2020 Economic Impact Payments (the first round), the 2021 payments (the second round), and the 2021 Child Tax Credit advance payments. If you received a payment and want to know where it went or when it arrived, this is the right place to look. If you did not receive a payment you believe you were owed, the tool will tell you that too — but the next step is different.

Key Takeaways

• The "Get My Payment" tool shows only payments already sent by the IRS, not whether you are owed a payment or how much.
• You will need your Social Security number, date of birth, and street address to use the tool, and the information must match what the IRS has on file.
• If the tool says "Payment Status Not Available," the IRS either has not processed your payment yet, does not have your correct address, or you may not have been sent one.
• If you did not receive a payment the tool says was sent, you can report it as missing and request a trace, but this process takes weeks.
• If you believe you were owed a payment but the tool shows nothing, you may need to file a tax return or amend a past return to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit.

How to access the tool and what information you need

Go to IRS.gov and search for "Get My Payment" or navigate directly to the tool's page. You will be asked to enter your Social Security number, date of birth, and street address. The address must match exactly what the IRS has in its system — if you moved and did not update your address with the IRS, the tool may not find your record.

The IRS uses this information to pull up your payment history. It does not require a login or password. If you are checking on a payment for a spouse or dependent, you will need their Social Security number and date of birth instead. The tool works on any device with internet access and is available 24 hours a day.

What each payment status message means

Payment Status Not Available means one of three things: the IRS has not yet processed a payment for you, the address on file is wrong or incomplete, or you were not sent a payment in that round. This is the most common message people see, and it does not mean something went wrong — it often just means the IRS is still working through the backlog or your information does not match their records.

Payment Sent means the IRS issued the payment and tells you the date and method. If it says "by direct deposit," the money should have landed in your bank account on or shortly after that date. If it says "by check," the check was mailed and may take one to three weeks to arrive, depending on postal delays. If it says "by debit card," a prepaid card was mailed to you.

Payment Scheduled (seen on older checks) meant the payment was in the queue but not yet sent. This status is rare now because most stimulus payments were issued years ago.

What to do if the tool says your payment was sent but you never received it

If the tool shows "Payment Sent" by direct deposit but the money never arrived in your bank account, the first step is to check your bank records going back to the date the IRS says it was sent. Banks sometimes deposit stimulus payments into a different account than you expected, or the deposit may have been reversed if your account was closed or flagged for fraud.

If you are certain the money never arrived, you can report it missing directly through the "Get My Payment" tool — there is usually a link to report a missing payment on the status page. The IRS will then file a "payment trace" request, which is an investigation into where the payment went. This process takes four to six weeks. You will receive a letter in the mail with the results.

Do not contact the IRS by phone to report a missing stimulus payment — the phone lines are overwhelmed and cannot process these requests. The online tool is the fastest and most reliable way to report it.

If the tool shows nothing and you think you were owed a payment

If "Get My Payment" shows no record of any payment in any round, but you believe you were owed one, the issue is usually that the IRS did not have your correct information when the payments were issued. This can happen if you moved, changed your name, did not file a tax return that year, or had an error in your Social Security number on file.

The way to claim a payment you did not receive is through the Recovery Rebate Credit on your tax return. If you did not file a return for the year the payment was issued, you can file one now — there is no deadline to claim the credit. If you already filed, you can amend your return using Form 1040-X. The credit will be added to your refund or reduce the tax you owe.

You will need to know how much you were owed in each round. The first round was up to $1,200 per adult and $500 per child. The second round was up to $600 per adult and $600 per child. The third round (Child Tax Credit advance) was up to $3,600 per child under 6 and $3,000 per child ages 6 to 17, paid in monthly installments. The IRS website has a calculator to help you figure out what you should have received based on your income and household size.

Common reasons the tool does not find your record

The most common reason "Get My Payment" cannot find you is that your address does not match what the IRS has on file. If you moved between 2019 and 2021, update your address with the IRS using Form 8822 before trying the tool again. You can mail it or file it electronically through a tax professional.

Another reason is that the IRS does not have a Social Security number for you in their system — this can happen if you are a non-citizen with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) instead. ITIN holders were not sent stimulus payments during the pandemic, though some states later issued their own payments to ITIN holders. Check your state's revenue department website to see if you were covered by a state program.

If you filed your taxes late or amended a return after the payments were issued, the IRS may not have processed your updated information in time to include you in that round. Filing a current-year return or amending a past return will put you in line for the Recovery Rebate Credit, which is the backup way to receive the money.

What happens after you report a missing payment

Once you report a payment as missing through the tool, the IRS opens a payment trace. You will receive a confirmation number — save this. The trace takes four to six weeks, and the IRS will send you a letter with the results. The letter will tell you whether the payment was found, where it went, or whether it was never issued.

If the trace shows the payment was deposited into a bank account you no longer use, you may need to contact that bank to ask if the deposit was reversed or if it is still sitting in the account. If the trace shows the payment was sent to an old address, check with the people who live there now or with the post office to see if it can be recovered.

If the trace shows the payment was never issued, you will be directed to claim it as a Recovery Rebate Credit on your tax return. The IRS will not reissue the payment directly — the credit is the only way to receive it now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use Get My Payment to check on someone else's stimulus payment?

Yes, if you have their Social Security number and date of birth. You might do this for an elderly parent, a dependent child, or a spouse. The tool does not require you to prove you have permission, so use it only for people whose information you are authorized to access.

Why does the tool say my payment was sent to an address I do not recognize?

The IRS may have sent it to an old address on file from a past tax return. If you moved and did not update your address, the payment may have been mailed to your previous home. Contact the people living there now, or file a change of address with the post office to see if it can be forwarded. You can also report it as missing through the tool.

Do I need to pay taxes on the stimulus money I received?

No. Stimulus payments are not taxable income, and you do not report them on your tax return. They are a one-time payment from the federal government, not a loan or advance on your refund.

What if I received a stimulus payment but I was not supposed to?

You do not have to return it. The IRS has not asked people to repay stimulus payments, even if they later determined someone was not owed one. Keep the money. If you are worried about it, you can contact the IRS, but there is no penalty or requirement to give it back.

Can I use Get My Payment to see if I am owed a payment for the current year?

No. The tool only shows payments that were already sent during the pandemic (2020 and 2021). It does not show whether you are owed a refund this year or any other current tax information. Check your refund status using the IRS "Where's My Refund?" tool instead.