The federal government has only just begun sending out a second round of stimulus payments, and many people are already waiting a little longer than expected for their money, the New York Times reported. Many payments have been sent to inactive or temporary accounts that taxpayers don’t have access to. It’s not clear how many people are affected, but the tax preparation company Jackson Hewitt said the Internal Revenue Service had sent payments to more than 13 million bank accounts that were no longer open or valid. “Because of the speed at which the law required the I.R.S. to issue the second round of Economic Impact Payments, some payments may have been sent to an account that may be closed or no longer active,” the agency said in a statement yesterday. Companies like TurboTax, H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt sometimes set up temporary accounts for clients when they prepare returns. For example, clients who opts to have preparation fees deducted from their refund may be issued one of these accounts, allowing the tax firm to take its share and then pass on the rest. After that, the accounts are generally inactive — but may still be linked to the taxpayers in IRS records. Payments that are sent to inactive accounts must be returned to the Treasury. People who don’t receive their payments promptly should claim the so-called Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2020 tax return, the I.R.S. said. (The credit can be found on line 30 of the 2020 Form 1040 or 1040-SR.)
