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Again? Some stimulus checks going into wrong bank accounts

What to do if yours went missing
Major changes to banking made during COVID-19 pandemic
Posted at 11:10 AM, Mar 17, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-17 11:10:49-04

CINCINNATI — It's happening again. People are reporting their stimulus check deposited into the wrong account.

Debbie Baker and her daughter were looking forward to getting their $1,400 stimulus checks and putting them toward a much-needed vacation far from their Northern Kentucky home.

"Yes, it would be nice to hit the beach," Baker said.

But neither one of them has their $1,400 yet, and Baker just discovered the IRS sent hers to her old bank.

"When I went to theIRS's 'Check my Stimulus' page, it actually gave me my old bank account," she said.

That's despite the fact she gave the IRS her new banking info back in January.

Taxpayers frustrated with few answers

The same thing happened with the last stimulus two months ago, as Niecie Boyd told me earlier this year.

"The first payment was sent back in April to the correct last four digits of my account," she told us at the time. "The second payment went out Jan. 4, but then last four digits I did not recognize, it wasn't any of my accounts."

Boyd and millions of people saw their $600 stimulus sent to their tax preparers, such as H&R Block or Turbotax, instead.

The IRS says it has fixed that glitch by now and does not believe it should be an issue this time.

However, the agency says it is sending the $1,400 checks to the bank account that it had on file last year.

If you changed bank accounts in the past year, like Baker and her daughter, it will bounce back to the IRS and will be mailed to you at a later date.

That means the pair's vacation will have to wait.

Unfortunately, you cannot call the IRS to correct the account change this late — its phone agents do not have any information about the status of your payment. You may simply have to wait a few more weeks.

Look up your check's status atwww.irs.gov, and once you get it, don't waste your money.

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