Second Stimulus Check Update: Early Tax Filers Will Be First In Line

Early tax filers may be the first to receive their second stimulus checks if the payments see the light of the day this 2020.

The second stimulus check is still up in the air but there are enough clues to work out a possible schedule for its release if it comes through this year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell assured last week that Americans would receive the second check more quickly than the first if they meet the required qualifications. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said it would only take about a week to mobilize the payments, although the checks might not go out to everyone at once.

The IRS is likely to follow the same system for sending out the second stimulus checks, which means some people may get paid days or months before the others. For the first stimulus check, people who had filed their 2018 or 2019 tax returns and had provided the IRS with their direct deposit information got their stimulus checks earlier than the others. If the IRS uses the same system for the second stimulus checks, then the first to receive their payments are those who have already registered for direct deposit as part of their 2019 tax filing or before.

Social Security beneficiaries who had direct deposit information on file with federal agencies are likely to become the second priority, with people who had not signed up for direct deposit and those who do not belong to any of the mentioned groups being the last to receive their checks.

While the timeline for the release of the second stimulus checks is still uncertain, certain factors are likely to cause a delay in check delivery for others. These factors include changes to aid for dependents, changes in banking status, and failure to file federal income tax returns in 2018 and 2019.

If the IRS follows the same timeline for the release of the next stimulus check, then the second check that is authorized before the end of 2020 could still be paying out funds to qualified recipients until the first half of 2021. Then again, the schedule for the first stimulus checks may only suggest the possible timeline for the second round of payments, if there is any. Until there is official news about the prospect of a second stimulus check being released, Americans should not get their hopes up.