Stimulus Checks: The IRS may send prepaid debit cards in lieu of sending a paper check. The debit cards are known as The Economic Impact Payment Card. If you receive this card, it will arrive in a plain envelope from "Money Network Cardholder Services."
Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) to Deceased Taxpayers: According to the IRS, they are actively working on a solution to reissue payments to surviving spouses of deceased taxpayers. Some individuals were unable to deposit the initial EIP because the checks were made payable to both the deceased and surviving spouse. If you received an EIP payment for someone who died before receipt of the payment, it should be returned to the IRS. For the EIPs that have been cancelled or returned, the surviving spouse will still receive their share of the EIP. For more information on EIPs, visit IRS.gov/coronavirus.
IRS Offices: The closing of the IRS offices due to the coronavirus has caused millions of pieces of mail to pile up at the closed offices. The IRS is slowly bringing back its workforce to process the mail backlog as well as conduct other essential services. The temporary closing of the IRS offices caused several issues for taxpayers that the Agency is currently rectifying.
Interest on Refunds: The IRS announced that they will pay interest on the refunds due to individuals who filed their return after April 16 but before July 15. If you receive your refund through direct deposit, the interest will be directly deposited into your account. Those not receiving a direct deposit will receive a paper check in the mail, indicating it as an “INT-Amount.” The IRS will send out a Form 1099-INT to anyone who received an interest payment for $10 or more because the interest payment will be taxable. Paper filers are also finding that when they visit the IRS’s tool, Where’s My Refund, there are no status updates. Congress has asked the IRS what its plans are to reduce the number of backlogged paper returns and more clarity on its Where’s My Refund tool.
IRS Payments: The backlog of mail delayed the processing of payments to the IRS. To avoid confusion on whether your payment was received, but not yet processed, the IRS has stopped the automatic follow-up notices (CP501, CP503, CP504). The IRS indicates that the payments will be posted and credited on the date the IRS received them, rather than when they were opened and processed. They are also postponing new tax lien notices through September 30. The IRS has asked that taxpayers not cancel their checks at this time or call them to check on a payment due to high call volumes. The IRS encourages taxpayer to visit IRS.gov/payments for options to make payments other than by mail.