IRS says stimulus payments will begin next week

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Internal Revenue Service said Friday that some stimulus payments will start going out next week, starting with people who have filed tax returns for 2018 or 2019 and authorized direct deposit.

The first round of direct-deposit payments will be made automatically to qualifying taxpayers.

Social Security beneficiaries will also receive their payments automatically. Those payments will go out "in the near future," the IRS said Friday.

The timeline keeps the first payments on the schedule promised by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said April 2 that the payments would begin going out within two weeks. He had earlier pushed for distributions, part of the $2.2 trillion economic relief package passed by Congress in March, to start as early as April 6.

Others -- including people who haven't filed returns, authorized direct deposits, or receive Social Security -- will likely have to wait weeks and even months before seeing their money. Some will have to first file a return or register online in order to receive the payment.

Also on Friday, the IRS launched a new tool to help low-income people who aren't normally required to file returns to input some basic information so that they can receive the stimulus money. They'll have to provide their Social Security number, name, address, and the number of their dependents -- as well as bank account information if they want to receive a direct deposit.

Next week, the IRS is planning to roll out a web portal that will give people whose bank account information is not on file with the agency the ability to submit it in order to get their stimulus payments faster, without waiting for paper checks. It will also help people check on the status of their payments.