March 24 was the first cutoff imposed by the IRS and Treasury to the new stimulus check. But although a total of 127 million stimulus checks for up to $1,400 per person will have gone out by the end of the week (more below), they could still take days to arrive, especially if your check encounters a problem. And there are still millions more stimulus payments in the queue for qualified recipient.

The deadline applied only to people getting their money through direct deposit. If yours hasn’t arrived in your bank account by now, it’s likely you’re getting a paper check or EIP debit card — even if you think the IRS has your banking information on file. (Bad news, the IRS doesn’t want to hear from you.) The situation is even more complicated for SSDI and SSI recipients, veterans and retired railroad workers — unless this subset of nonfilers got a previous check using the IRS’ Non-Filers tool, which is now closed. In that case, you could get your payment in the current wave.

No matter which group you’re in, it may not help that the USPS is currently experiencing delays, according to The New York Times (track your stimulus payment in the mail). It could also take months for some people to receive their full stimulus check total — for example, if the IRS uses your 2019 taxes to calculate your share, but owes you more money based on your 2020 taxes. We’ll go over these scenarios below. (And here’s the story so far on a fourth stimulus check.) This story was recently updated.

Stimulus check delivery status — what we know today

Here’s how the checks have been sent so far:

First payment batch — March 17

• Direct deposit: 90 million ($242 billion)
• Paper checks: 150,000 ($442 million)

Second payment batch ($83 billion) — March 24

• Direct deposit: 17 million ($38 billion)
• Paper checks: 15 million ($34 billion)
• EIP cards: 5 million ($11 billion)

What next: People who didn’t receive direct deposit by March 24 will receive a stimulus payment in the mail. However, no distribution date has been given for SSI and SSDI recipients. With mail delays on the horizon, it isn’t clear how long it will take from the time the IRS or Treasury sends your payment to the date it’s received. Other additional complications could also hold up your payment. If you moved recently, tell the IRS and USPS.

Stimulus check delivery dates

Stimulus bill passed Congress	March 10
Stimulus bill signed into law	March 11
First direct deposit sent	March 12 (provisional), March 17 (official)
First paper checks sent	Week of March 15
First EIP cards sent	Week of March 22
Last day to get direct deposit	March 24
SSI and SSDI checks sent	Not yet announced
IRS deadline to finish sending checks	Dec. 31, 2021 (mandated by the bill)
Last date to receive a check	January 2022 (if mailed checks sent late December)
Claims for missing stimulus money open	2021 tax season likely (in 2022)

You can get your stimulus check status from the IRS

The IRS updates its Get My Payment tracker tool for stimulus checks daily. This online app shows you the status of your payment, including when a check is scheduled for delivery. The IRS portal can also flag if there’s a problem with your payment that you may need to address, but it doesn’t tell you the amount you’ll receive. You can use a free tool from the USPS to track your mailed stimulus payment.

What could hold back or divvy up your stimulus payment

• You receive SSDI or SSI benefits or other federal benefits, which have not been sent out yet.
• Your stimulus check was deposited into a closed or temporary bank account.
• You moved and the IRS doesn’t have your correct mailing address to send a check.
• Your check may get delayed in the mail (track it).
• Your payment may be garnished by private debt collectors.
• You may not receive money for all of your dependents, like a new baby or older adult.
• You may be a nonfiler who needs to file a 2020 tax return to claim dependents.
• The IRS based your third stimulus check on 2019 taxes and you’re owed money for your 2020 AGI or dependents.
• There was a calculation error and you need to claim an adjustment at a later date.
• The IRS sent a letter confirming it sent your stimulus payment, but the money never arrives.

Here’s more information on problems you might encounter with your stimulus check.

What you should do if there’s an issue with your check

Sorry, but the IRS really doesn’t want you to call if you have any issue with the delivery or amount of your stimulus check. So what should you do instead? We have a guide that walks you through how to report stimulus check problems, including checks that never arrive (try filing a payment trace), direct deposit payments that go to the wrong account and more.

Why your 2019 tax return could complicate your situation

Taxes are now due May 17. So how will the IRS figure out how much it owes you? It will calculate your total (you can also do that here) based on the most recent tax filing it’s processed at the time it’s ready to tabulate your check.

If you filed your 2020 taxes early and you know your tax return was already processed, your total will likely be based on your 2020 adjusted gross income, not on your 2019 AGI. That presents complications if the difference between the two years disqualifies you from getting a third stimulus check.

On the flip side, if the IRS uses your 2019 taxes and you’re owed more money based on your 2020 AGI and dependents, you’ll need to claim the difference at a later date. (Learn more about some of the stimulus check exceptions and catches here.)

If the IRS owes you money, you’ll have to claim it later

There are several reasons the IRS may owe you stimulus money after it sends out the third round of checks. Maybe the agency processed your 2019 tax return instead of 2020 and there was a discrepancy. Or maybe you had a baby in 2020 that you still need to claim as a dependent. Maybe a clerical error accidentally left out a new dependent. Perhaps your payment never arrived or was accidentally garnished.

Whatever the reason, the IRS may provide a way to file for missing stimulus money before the Dec. 31 deadline. If not, you might have to wait a year to claim it, when you file your 2021 taxes in 2022 (even if you’re a nonfiler who isn’t typically required to file taxes).

Your stimulus check could technically arrive in December

Although the IRS and Treasury are sending stimulus checks now, the agencies have until Dec. 31, 2021, to complete distributing the third payments. That’s good news in the sense they aren’t facing a compressed deadline to send out all the checks, as they did with the second stimulus check in December, which only provided them a 17-day window to get the payments out. On the other hand, the nearly nine-month total delivery window also means some people may find themselves waiting, for a variety of reasons. We’ll have to wait and see how the IRS deals with any fringe issues that arise.

More stimulus check details you may want to know

Stimulus checks aren’t necessarily a one-size-fits-all situation. Here are additional guides for:

• Households with dependents, or people trying to understand if they’d receive their own check
• People who receive SSI or SSDI
• Older adults, people who are retired and veterans
• Tax nonfilers, such as veterans
• Families with child support situations
• Families with mixed-status citizenship

And here’s everything you need to know about the third stimulus check, how to calculate your stimulus total and every way the stimulus bill can bring you more money.