Second stimulus check is a moving target. Here’s when it could realistically arrive

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How quickly could the IRS send your money? We have some potential dates.


Sarah Tew/CNET

Ever since May, the timeline of a second stimulus check has been a lingering unknown, at times growing very close to certainty and at other times slipping away. Once again, negotiations over the shape and size of the next stimulus bill appears to be veering away from a second direct payment — for now. It’s quite possible that talks over another relief package — one that includes the popular, broadly supported check — will once again resume in 2021.

While we can’t totally rule out another stimulus check before the end of 2021, it isn’t looking likely. However, we did the calendar tabulations to map out which date a coronavirus relief bill would have to pass and when the IRS would need to get the wheels in motion, for different groups of people to get another direct payment between now and April. If spring seems like a long ways away, it is, especially since the coronavirus has been extant in the US for a year, health officials now believe. 

Below, we’ve drawn up some possible timelines of when a second stimulus payment could be sent.

Some of the most important takeaways at the moment:

This story was recently updated.


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When will Congress vote on another stimulus bill? 

House Majority Speaker Steny Hoyer said Nov. 27, “The House may complete legislative business early the week of Dec. 7,” including work on a stimulus bill. While the package has been a moving target for months, this does give us another date to go on, and you’ll see that reflected in Scenario 1 in the chart below.

Right now, it seems the Senate is leaning toward a stopgap stimulus bill that doesn’t include another stimulus check. With Congress under a deadline to pass a new federal budget by Dec. 11, the Senate may also try to attach more economic aid to a government funding bill.

After President-elect Joe Biden becomes US president on Jan. 20, the new administration could try again for a larger bill that could include another direct payment. That would mean a check would likely go out in February at the earliest. See the chart below for possible dates. (Here are separate stimulus measures Biden could take if there’s no stimulus bill by inauguration).

Read moreHow big will your next stimulus check be? Calculate your estimate

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Hanging on to hope of a second stimulus check? You’re not alone.


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If approved, how soon could the IRS make a second payment?

In August, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said it would take about a week from the time that another direct payment is approved to the time the IRS can process the first batch. 

“I can get out 50 million payments really quickly. A lot of it into people’s direct accounts,” Mnuchin said then. 

If a check doesn’t arrive until 2021, there will be a new Treasury secretary — it isn’t clear if a transition of power would cause a delay in sending out money. Biden has selected Janet Yellen, the previous chair of the US Federal Reserve, though she would need to be confirmed by the Senate before taking office.

Even if the checks were to go out faster the second time by following the existing IRS protocol from the first payment, that doesn’t necessarily mean your stimulus money would arrive a week after a bill went live. The following section explains more.

When’s the soonest I could receive my next stimulus check?

Here’s one stimulus check truth of many: Not everyone will get a payment at the same time. With the first check, the IRS divided stimulus payments into three main groups depending on the form in which you received the money. We explain more in the next section.

In the chart below, these speculative dates show when you might see a payment. The second scenario is possible if the House and Senate are called back to vote and the session officially extended. We also sketched out two timelines if a bill becomes law after Biden’s Inauguration Day on Jan. 20 to give you an idea of how long you might have to wait.

Possible dates a second stimulus check could go out

Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 3 Scenario 4
House passes final bill Dec 9 Dec 14 Feb 1 Mar 1
Senate passes final bill Dec 10 Dec 15 Feb 2 Mar 2
President signs Dec 11 Dec 16 Feb 3 Mar 3
First direct deposits issued Week of Dec 14 Week of Dec 21 Week of Feb 8 Week of Mar 8
First paper checks sent Week of Dec 21 Week of Dec 28 Week of Feb 16 (Feb 15 is President’s Day) Week of Mar 15
First EIP cards sent Week of Jan 18 Week of Jan 25 Week of Mar 15 Week of Apr 12

Is there a reason the IRS staggers the payment schedule?

There are a few reasons the IRS doesn’t send all the stimulus payments at once. One is the sheer volume of disbursements it has to process. With the first check, the IRS has said it could deliver 5 million to 7 million paper stimulus checks a week, starting with people whose adjusted gross income, or AGI, is less than $20,000, and then moving to people whose AGIs are progressively larger, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Another reason payments come at different times for different people depends on the way they get the cash. By summer, the IRS had sent money to at least 160 million people, with people the federal government had direct deposit information for receiving their checks first. Physical checks and EIP payments followed, creating a de facto priority order that could result in some Americans receiving their checks days or even weeks before others. See below for more information on the different payment groups.

Some people with more complicated personal situations are still waiting for their checks or even for catch-up payments. People in this group may not be able to get their stimulus allotment until the middle of 2021.

We expect the IRS will adopt roughly the same system for sending out a second stimulus check in 2020 or 2021 as it did with the first stimulus check, which was approved in March as part of the CARES Act.

Read moreNobody can take your stimulus check away, right? Not quite

source: cnet.com