Stimulus Check Payment Status 2 - Not Available : What's This Mean?

It would appear that the Stimulus Check pandemic payment process is going slightly different than expected. If you've gone ahead and checked the status of your payment – the second Stimulus Payment of the pandemic – you might've seen the message "Payment Status #2 – Not Available." Do not panic – this is normal. While some Americans already got a $600 payment in their bank account in the last week, others will need to wait a little longer.

According to an IRS representative, the agency began sending checks in the mail to millions of US citizens this past week. They've also begun depositing stimulus checks in bank accounts automatically. If you've not yet seen said cash, you might need to wait until you get your refund with your 2020 tax filing.

If you've checked your status with the IRS Get My Payment tool and see "Payment Status #2 – Not Available" you will not get a payment automatically.

Even if you received a first stimulus check automatically in early 2020, if you see Payment Status #2, you will not get a payment until after you've filed taxes for the year 2020 (here in 2021). Per an update pushed by the IRS on January 5, 2021: "If GMP shows "Payment Status #2 – Not Available," then you will not receive a second Economic Impact Payment and instead you need to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 Tax Return."

If you have not already done so, head to the IRS Get My Payment tool and check your status. There's a chance that you've gotten a payment since you've last checked your bank account, too. New payments appeared at different reported times over the past week for different banking institutions, and the United States Postal System might've just delivered your check by mail today.

If you have a different bank or address than you had when you received your check earlier in 2020, you might need to do some adjusting. We'll be getting into this a bit deeper in another article later this morning, but in short: If you file your taxes for 2020 here in 2021, there'll be an option to claim your Stimulus Check #2 with your tax return, and it should fix any issues you've got with the IRS (perhaps) sending your cash to an old or no-longer-active account.