Payments are based on income reported on 2019 tax returns (or 2018 if you haven't filed for 2019). This means that in order to receive a payment, you must have a Social Security Number.
Eligibility is based on income filings, detailed below, but you can also check your eligibility here.
The amount you can receive if eligible is based on your adjusted gross income on your 2019 (or 2018) tax return. This number can be found on line 8b of your 2019 federal tax return.
Below indicates eligibility by income filing:
Adults/couples who qualify can also receive $500 per child
A family with 2 children who earn more than $218,000 are not eligible for payments
Who can’t get payments:
If someone claims you as a dependent
If you don’t have a valid Social Security Number (there is an exception for members of the military)
You do not need to apply to receive the payment. The IRS already has your information if you filed for your tax return :).
Social Security and Railroad Retirement recipients who are not typically required to file a tax return also need to take no action. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) recipients are also part of this group who don't need to take action.
There is a page on the IRS website to collect this information here. It may not load due to high demand, but keep trying :). It is better to access it at a time with lower demand, like early in the morning or late at night. Keep in mind, the system is very sensitive. So if it doesn’t recognize all of your information, think about the different ways you can enter information like your address in.
Some have already started to receive their payments. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said that most should expect to receive their payments by April 17th.
You can check the eligibility and status of your payment here.
What does “Payment Status Not Available” mean? It could mean either of the below:
You are not eligible for a payment
You did not file for a tax return for 2018 or 2019 but are required to
You recently filed your return or provided information through Non-Filers: Enter Your Payment Info on IRS.gov
You are an SSA or RRB Form 1099 recipient, SSI or VA benefit recipient
You entered a made-up social security number, birth date, and address combination
Based on the bill, you should get a paper notice in the mail no later than a few weeks after your payment has been disbursed. That notice will contain information about where the payment ended up and in what form it was made. If you couldn’t locate the payment at that point, it would be time to contact the IRS using the information on the notice.