INDIANAPOLIS — Call 6 Investigates has been digging into concerns from people who have not received their stimulus checks and who’ve received the message “Payment Status Not Available” on the IRS portal.
Marsai Hayslip is a Bloomington mother with eight kids, and she’s been trying to wait patiently for her stimulus check.
The checks are supposed to be $1,200 for individuals, $2,400 for couples and $500 for dependent children under the age of 17.
“I need it to catch up on my bills, my water bill, phone bill, car insurance and medical insurance,” Hayslip said.
But the IRS website keeps giving the Bloomington mom an error message that says it can’t find her information.
“It’s so aggravating,” Hayslip said.
Something similar happened to Sandra Fink in Brown County — the IRS website says “Payment Status Not Available — according to the information that we have on file, we cannot determine your eligibility for a payment at this time.”
"I put it all the pertinent information and it came back with a reply that said our eligibility was undetermined, and I was like what the heck does that mean?" Fink said.
Fink and her husband own a wedding venue in Brown County, and with no money coming in they were very much hoping for a stimulus check.
“We are kind of sitting dead in the water, so we were really looking forward to getting this stimulus check,” Fink said. “My husband and I to get our $1,200 each to have something and then we get the information that they can’t determine our eligibility.”
Call 6 Investigates has been reaching out the IRS on behalf of Hoosiers since Thursday morning — we’ve called and emailed the IRS half a dozen times and have received no information.
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We found information on the IRS website explaining several reasons why you might get the “Payment Status Not Available” message.
- You are required to file a tax return, but:
- We haven't finished processing your 2019 return
- The application doesn't yet have your data; we’re working on adding more data to allow more people to use it.
- You don't usually file a return, and:
- You used Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here but we haven’t processed your entry yet
- You receive an SSA or RRB Form 1099 or SSI or VA benefits; information has not been loaded onto our systems yet for people who don’t normally file a tax return.
- You’re not eligible for a payment (see Eligibility).
The IRS website says the IRS updates Get My Payment data once per day, overnight so there is no need to check more often.
Fink and Hayslip said they don’t fall into any of the categories above and hope to get their money soon.
“We just want answers,” said Fink. “If it told us a paper check was coming in a month, that would be fine. We just want to know something.”
The Get My Payment tool allows you to track the status of your payment and also enter your direct deposit information.
In addition, if you don’t typically file tax returns, you can enter your information on a this IRS website.
