Tax Tip Tuesday: How to Check the Status of Your Refund or Stimulus Check

If you’ve had problems with your mail, or you moved without updating your address, you may have missed stimulus checks or tax refunds from the IRS. Here’s how to request a replacement from the IRS if you missed a payment you were expecting.

1. Make sure the refund was really sent. If you’ve been waiting a long time for a refund, it doesn’t necessarily mean the check was lost. It could be that the IRS is still processing your return and hasn’t yet issued the payment. Go to https://www.irs.gov/refunds and enter your information to make sure the refund was actually sent. You can check on the status of the third stimulus payment here: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment . Another option is to set up an account on the IRS website and use it to view your 2020 “account transcript” and see whether the IRS sent you the first two stimulus payments, whether your tax return was processed, and whether your refund was sent: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript
2. If the IRS sent your refund or stimulus payment, but you never received it, use Form 3911 to request a “refund trace": https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f3911.pdf Fill out Section I and Section II, then sign and date in Section III. Mail in the form, or fax it to 855-404-9091. The IRS will look at what happened to the money they sent. If they see that the check was never deposited, or that it may have been stolen, they can send you a replacement.
3. If you aren’t sure whether the refund was sent or not, and it’s been more than four months since you filed your tax return, reach out to us for help: www.philalegal.org