8M stimulus debit cards on theway
The Internal Revenue Service is sending about 8 million of the $600 payments approved in recent stimulus legislation as prepaid debt cards.
The cards will go to some of the individuals who didn’t receive their stimulus payment by direct deposit in the past week. The IRS has already sent more than $100 billion of the roughly $164 billion of the second round of stimulus payments approved by Congress in late December.
Some people who received a $1,200 stimulus payment during the first round last spring in the form of a paper check may get a prepaid debit card this time, and vice versa, the IRS said. In the spring, some people threw away the mailed card not realizing that it was a legitimate payment.
The $600 payments were included in the $2.3 trillion combined government funding and coronavirus relief package. Direct payments are being made in a bid to bolster consumer spending and disposable income, which have fallen in recent weeks due to new COVID-19 restrictions by cities and states..
Individuals who don’t receive their full payment can claim the additional amount on the tax returns they file.