Some Americans who use a certain service from H&R Block may have a delay in receiving their second stimulus check, the tax preparation company announced.
The IRS started issuing the second round of stimulus checks last week. The agency has set up the IRS Get My Payment website for people to check on their stimulus check.
Many people have been checking, and apparently some were finding the account number where the money was being sent, doesn’t belong to them.
“The IRS Get My Payment website may display an account number you don’t recognize. If you took a Refund Transfer, it may be reflecting that account number,” H&R Block tweeted Monday. “But don’t worry - we have sent these payments on to the method you chose for Refund Transfer … The money should be there by the end of the day.”
But don’t worry – we have sent these payments on to the method you chose for Refund Transfer: direct deposit, check or Emerald Card. The money should be there by the end of the day.
— H&R Block (@HRBlock) January 5, 2021
If someone has their tax refunds sent directly to their bank account, then the stimulus check will also be sent to that account. However, H&R Block offers a Refund Transfer option. Customers who used that feature in 2019 may have had their stimulus check sent to that temporary account.
Following the disclosure, H&R Block received a lot of messages, and criticism, on social media. The company asked people to “please be patient” and said they are working to get stimulus check payments deposited into customers’ actual accounts.
If the IRS Get My Payment website is showing a different account number, and a person has not used H&R Block’s Refund Transfer, or anyone else’s similar service, there could be other explanations.
The IRS says there might be a different account number if a refund was sent to a Direct Express card.
“The bank information shown in Get My Payment will be a number associated with your Direct Express card and may be a number you don’t recognize,” according to the IRS’ website.
The IRS says anyone who is eligible for a payment and does not receive one, or only receives a partial payment, they can claim it on their taxes.
"If you don’t get a payment and you are eligible to receive one, it may be claimed on your 2020 tax return as the Recovery Rebate Credit," according to the IRS' website.