“Payment Status Not Available” — IRS Coronavirus Website Reports

Many people visited the 2020 stimulus check direct deposit web portal recently only to be met with a message that says “Payment Status Not Available”.

Further, the message goes on to say, “According to information that we have on file, we cannot determine your eligibility for payment at this time.

For more information on the eligibility rules, see our Frequently Asked Questions page.”

This has been extremely disappointing to many Americans who were hoping to access the direct deposit web portal to provide the IRS with their direct deposit information so that they get their 2020 stimulus check much quicker because they are in dire financial circumstances.

As the Senate reviews the Heroes Act, and Americans realize that a second stimulus check payment may well be on the way (find out how much and when), let’s hope that these Payment Status Not Available messages are remedied.

The problem with this Payment Status Not Available message that many Americans are receiving is that they do not think that the reasons for this message are valid.

On this page, the IRS lists four reasons that you may be receiving the Payment Status Not Available message. They are paraphrased as follows:

1. You may not be eligible for payment.
2. You are required to file a tax return and have not done so.
3. You have recently entered information on the Non-Filers page.
4. You may be an SSA or RRB form 1099 recipient, SSI or VA recipient – the IRS is working with these agencies to get things squared away.

The problem with these reasons is that many people feel that they do not fit any of those circumstances.

Though the IRS currently says the Get My Payment website is operating smoothly and effectively, there have been many reports to the contrary.

So, if you believe that you are receiving the Payment Status Not Available in error because your situation does not match any of the four reasons given to receive this message, the best advice would be to check back each day.

In fact, the IRS mentions that you “can check the app again to see whether there has been an update to your information” and would like to remind everyone that “the data is updated once per day, so there’s no need to check back more frequently.”

The IRS seems to be sending slightly mixed messages. They’re saying it is certainly one of these four reasons, but just in case, come back tomorrow and have another look.

As I said, a lot of people are mentioning that they don’t fit into any of those four reasons. and so for those people, the recommendation would be to go back to the site each day and it will hopefully have been updated with the latest, accurate information.

May 28th, 2020 Update: Fortunately, many people reported the Payment Status Not Available message disappeared when they checked back after a few days.

Good luck to all. May you find peace and love in these challenging times!