IRS stimulus check direct deposit issues could be resolved with some checks arriving in the mail

By Sophia Jacob On Mar 11, 2021

CHICAGO – Potential good news for some people waiting for stimulus money: Some checks could be on their way after a major banking confusion that affected hundreds of people.

Dozens of people called ABC7’s I-Team, claiming their checks had been sent to the wrong banks. Now it looks like a solution is in the mail.

When Latissha Macon checked the payment status of her stimulus check on the IRS website two weeks ago, the alert indicated that it had been deposited to another bank account.

“I tried calling the IRS and none of the numbers on the website. I couldn’t reach any of the numbers,” she said.

Macon’s tax preparer told him that the Treasury Department and IRS accidentally sent Macon’s money to his tax preparer’s bank. The bank then returned Macon’s money to the IRS.

Macon’s tax preparer told the I-Team the same has happened to at least 300 of his clients. It has also happened to the more than 300 clients of tax accountant Connell Jones.

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“I had to explain to them that this was not my personal account, it was a third party account, and based on their bank request, it will be referred to the IRS and sent back to them,” Jones said.

Jones said the confusion occurred with clients who did not prepay their tax preparation, so their stimulus money went to a third-party bank that provided the advance on the payment for tax preparation. It also happened if people took a cash advance on their tax return.

“And I was up all night last night, checking everyone’s statuses, and everyone’s statuses now, about 95% of people are now up to date. So now they can expect to receive a check by mail, ”Jones said.

He said the account status message his clients receive on the IRS website says the checks were mailed.

Macon, who uses another tax preparer, said she also received this message.

“Now it looks like the Internal Revenue Service has solved the problem, they received the files from the third-party bank and they redirected the money to the customers via a paper check,” Jones said.

The IRS said about 88 million people had successfully received stimulus funds deposited directly into accounts. If you do not use electronic filing on your tax return, a paper check will be mailed to you.

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