NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — After receiving a stimulus paycheck for someone else, a Nashville man turned to social media to track down the recipient.
Tyler Wood said the man who received the paycheck used to live at his apartment. Wood posted on an East Nashville Facebook group a picture of the mail on Sunday but blurred out the address.
"That way somebody can confirm their address and that I wasn't just giving somebody's check with the same name," Wood told NewsChannel 5.
Someone responded with the phone number of a man who now lives in St. Louis. Wood said he called the person who was understandably skeptical at first, but once details were sorted out, there was a huge relief.
"He was super excited. He was so thankful because he didn't think he was actually going to get it because I think he travels a lot," Wood said. "I was glad to help him out because I know everybody needs that money right now."
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) gave nearly 130 million stimulus payments in less than a month, but 20 million others are still waiting for a variety of reasons including if and when you filed your 2019 tax return and if it's still being processed. Others may not be qualified based on their income or if there's no bank account information.
As the federal government slowly moves towards an electronic process, there's now a deadline of noon on Wednesday for taxpayers to set up their direct deposit information through the "Get My Payment" option, which has gone through some problems, on the IRS website. Direct deposit is the fastest way to expedite the stimulus money.
After the deadline, people will have to accept that their stimulus money will reach their mail boxes. The IRS will prepare checks to send through a different federal department and should arrive late May or in June. Others might have to wait until September depending on their status.
Checks have already been sent out in waves with lower income individuals receiving them first.
Many others like Wood's girlfriend had her payment sent to an old bank account and waited weeks for it to return to the IRS and sent by mail.
"She was relieved because she had the correct address on file. It worked out but took a little bit longer," Wood said.
However, stimulus paychecks have been sent to old addresses on file. People can file their taxes with an updated address, change the address in the tax return you already filed online or simply wait to get it through the mail. One other suggestion is to go to the United States Postal Service (USPS) website and have your mail forwarded.
To learn more about why people are getting a different amount or the deadline, click on this link.
