50,000 to Get “Catch-Up” Economic Impact Payments
Some 50,000 individuals who had a portion of their Economic Impact Payment diverted to pay their spouse’s past-due child support will soon get a check to make up the difference.
The Internal Revenue Service says the catch-up payments are due to be issued in early-to-mid-September. They will be mailed as checks to eligible spouses who submitted Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation, along with their 2019 federal income tax return, or in some cases, their 2018 return.
These spouses do not need to take any action to get their money, since the IRS will automatically issue the portion of the EIP that was applied to the other spouse’s debt.
The IRS says it understands that some individuals didn’t file Form 8379 and didn’t get their portion of the Economic Impact Payment for the reasons mentioned. These individuals also don’t need to take any further action and don’t need to submit Form 8379.
The IRS stresses that while it doesn’t have a timeframe, the agency will automatically issue the portion of the EIP that was applied to the other spouse’s debt at a later date.
To check the status of their payment, affected taxpayers can go online to the IRS’ Get My Payment Tool, which is available only on the IRS.gov website.
Taxpayers can also get more information in the Receiving My Payment section of the Frequently Asked Questions in the Economic Payment Information Center on IRS.gov.