First stimulus direct-deposited. Second one mailed - why?

January 7, 2021 12:54 PM

All of my tax stuff is direct deposit and has been so for years. My April stimulus was deposited directly into my bank account. When I hadn't seen a direct deposit for a few days this time, I checked Get My Payment. The site tells me that my second stimulus is an actual paper check, and was put in the mail yesterday.

Absolutely nothing has changed on my end since the first payment was deposited. Why on earth would they change how my payment is delivered?

I don't know if anyone will be able to answer this question, but I am striking out with trying to find someone in the government who can answer it, so I turn to you guys. Maybe you know, or maybe you know how I can find out....

posted by tzikeh to Law & Government (11 answers total)

No answers, but the exact same thing happened to me.
posted by cyndigo at 1:15 PM on January 7, 2021 [3 favorites]

This whole thing is not being run in a super organized manner, is probably some part of the explanation.

The IRS has our information (we have a payment plan with them, they take money from us out of that same account every month), we got checks in the last round.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:26 PM on January 7, 2021 [2 favorites]

Apparently there was some kind of error, so if you filed with TurboTax or H&R Block the process is delayed. I think I read somewhere that H&R Block is going to receive the checks and then disperse them, but I'm not certain about that.
posted by k8lin at 1:35 PM on January 7, 2021 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: HOW delayed?! I need to make rent....
posted by tzikeh at 1:38 PM on January 7, 2021

I am experiencing the exact same thing (first check direct deposited, second check mailed yesterday). My taxes were e-filed by an accountant so the TurboTax/H&R Block delay doesn’t apply.
posted by MadamM at 4:40 PM on January 7, 2021 [1 favorite]

Reuters.com: Error puts millions of U.S. stimulus payments in wrong accounts

Article says this was an internal IRS error.
posted by soundguy99 at 4:48 PM on January 7, 2021 [2 favorites]

I had the exact opposite situation.
posted by desuetude at 8:08 PM on January 7, 2021 [3 favorites]

I am in the same boat. First stimulus payment was direct deposited to the account that I paid taxes from in 2018. Second stimulus payment was a physical check mailed on Jan. 6. I have no idea why this would change.
posted by bedhead at 8:16 AM on January 8, 2021 [1 favorite]

Same exact thing with me. It also appears from looking at my USPS informed delivery digest that someone else’s paper check is about to be misdelivered to my mailbox.
posted by edithkeeler at 9:49 AM on January 9, 2021

Same thing here: last payment was direct deposited, this one was sent.

For reference, mine was sent on Wednsday and turned up Saturday, so USPS is still running slow. However, when my wife deposited it in her BoFA account, it posted to the account on the same day (Saturday), so it seems that banks are expediting them.
posted by baggers at 7:32 AM on January 10, 2021

As an update, IRS says mine was set to be mailed on the 6th. Still watching the mailbox....
posted by cyndigo at 5:38 PM on January 18, 2021