Delayed stimulus checks should arrive by February, tax firms say

  By Yehudit Garmaise 

   Millions of Americans who have not yet received their $600 stimulus checks should receive them by early February, tax preparation firms say.

    One delay of the stimulus checks’ delivery was caused when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) mistakenly sent millions of coronavirus relief payments to closed or inactive bank accounts, which bounced the funds right back to the federal government.

  “The IRS regrets the inconvenience and greatly appreciates the assistance of our tax industry partners in helping accelerate a resolution of this issue,” the agency said in a statement.

     Tax preparers say they are working with the IRS to get the money into the American’ bank accounts in the coming weeks.

    The IRS is working to process the payments again and will re-issue them later this month, it said Monday, noting that tax companies are not in possession of the money. The affected taxpayers will either see the funds deposited directly into their bank accounts or receive paper checks, officials said.

    Jackson Hewitt and Republic Bank told customers that their “economic impact payments” will be processed and deposited by Feb. 1, while the Iowa-based TaxAct said that the checks should arrive in customers’ accounts on that date.

    Americans who used other tax firms may already have their checks. H&R Block had processed all of its customers’ stimulus payments as of Jan. 6, according to a spokesperson, and TurboTax said the delayed deposits started arriving on Friday.