What’s up with the Get My Payment portal at the IRS?

We’re receiving some interesting and widely varying reports from our clients concerning their experiences with the IRS’ Get My Payment portal, generally depending upon the status of their 2018 or 2019 return filings. Here’s a quick rundown as of 5pm EDT April 17, 2020:

• If the most recent return filing (2018 or 2019) was a refund with direct deposit requested, the EIP (Economic Impact Payment) has generally been received.
• If the most recent return filing (2018 or 2019) was a balance due return (with or without direct debit, as direct debit information is not valid for the purpose of direct deposit), the EIP has not been received.
• Clients checking the Get My Payment portal may receive puzzling results, such as entering basic info in order to add the bank account for direct deposit and then being presented with a message stating, “Payment Status Unavailable.”
• Some clients seem to get further along in the process of entering information than others, but still may end up with the dreaded, “Payment Status Unavailable” message.
• Clients who have already received their payments seem to be able to get through and the information is correctly reported (i.e., payment has been made, and confirming the last few digits of the bank account number).

According to the Get My Payment Frequently Asked Questions page, the portal data is updated daily. So, continue to check, but no more than once per day, as you are not likely to see any changes until the following day.