Tracking the latest round of stimulus checks

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service said more than $242 billion in stimulus payments have been sent out as of Wednesday.

That totals about 90 million stimulus payments to Americans who meet the requirements for the third round of aid.

The agencies noted that a majority of these first payments were sent via direct deposit because the information came from people who had information on file for their 2019 or 2020 tax returns.

The IRS has also mailed roughly 150,000 paper checks in the mail. However, some Americans are still waiting on their checks as of Thursday, the agency said.

Those who are eligible but not received their payment can use the IRS’ stimulus check tracker.

If you are getting “payment status not available” from the website -- don’t be alarmed.

According to the IRS, if you receive that message, it can mean one of three things:

• you are not eligible for the payment.
• the payment has yet to be processed
• the IRS currently doesn’t have enough information to issue the payment to you

However, the agency noted that they will continue to send out the relief payments through 2021 in batches and several payments will process starting next week.

If you have questions about your stimulus payment, the IRS asks that you head to the IRS.GOV FAQ page instead of calling the agency’s number.

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