Recent Payments Provided by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

On March 11, 2021, 15 days after being introduced in House, the American Rescue Plan Act became public law. Shortly after passing as law, batches of Economic Impact Payments began processing as part of the APRA. As of April 7, 2021, four economic impact payments have been disbursed to select individuals.

The first batch of Economic Impact Payments under the APRA began processing on March 12, 2021, with an official payment date of Wednesday, March 17, 2021. This first batch of payments went out to eligible taxpayers, with 90 million payments being distributed via direct deposit and approximately 150,000 checks delivered by mail. In total, this round of Economic Impact Payments amounts to more than $242 billion, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. 

On Friday, March 19, 2021, one week after the first batch of Economic Impact Payments, the second batch of payments began processing. Similar to the first batch of Economic Impact Payments, this round was also sent to eligible taxpayers and individuals who used the non-filers tool last year. This round, totaling around $83 billion, was majorly distributed as paper checks or debit cards, as reported by the IRS. 

One week after the second batch of Economic Impact Payments, the third round began processing with a total of more than $10 billion. With an official payment date of Wednesday, March 31, the third batch of payments delivered went to eligible taxpayers whose 2020 tax returns were recently processed. If an eligible taxpayer claimed a new dependent or their income decreased throughout 2020, they might have received payment in the third batch of payments. This round of Economic Impact Payments starts the process of ongoing supplemental payments we will see in the future.

As stated in a recent press release from the IRS, the fourth and most recent Economic Impact Payments began processing on Friday, April 2. This batch also featured ongoing supplemental payments for individuals whose 2020 tax returns were recently processed and discovered as eligible for additional payments based on filing status and income. However, the majority of this round featured payments for Social Security beneficiaries who have not filed or used the non-filers recently. Additionally, this round featured payments for Railroad Retirement Board beneficiaries bringing the total amount of round four economic impact payments to $36 billion. 

Individuals can use the "Get My Payment" tool provided by the IRS to view the status of their payments. By entering your Social Security Number, date of birth, and address, you can easily see which payments you may be receiving!