When could your third stimulus check come? The timeline has just sped up. Here’s why

A third stimulus check could be just weeks away from gaining approval as part of Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, as a result of some political maneuvering that could shoulder through a vote even without Republican backing. House lawmakers are currently working on building out a bill, with the goal of passing it around Feb. 22 before passing it on to the Senate for a vote. Could the bill come sooner than the previously forecast date of March 14? “Absolutely,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Feb. 5. “Without any question. Before then.” 

A faster timeline for approval would also mean that a third stimulus check for up to $1,400 per person could be delivered more speedily. Along with the revised timeline is a call to “target” the new stimulus checks, which would restrict the number of people who would be eligible to receive one. Those changes could bring a lot more or less money to your household, and new rules based on your income might also exist alongside a new allotment of $1,400 for dependents of all ages.

There could still be setbacks with delivering a new stimulus check. For example, the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, which starts Tuesday, could push back Biden’s stimulus agenda. There’s also the inevitable gap between approval of a $1,400 stimulus check and when it lands in your bank account or mailbox. Below, we’ve mapped out possible dates your check could arrive — depending on the payment priority group you’re in — and we have answers to other important questions, like what happens if your third payment appears in the middle of the 2020 tax season. This story was recently updated.

New stimulus payment schedule: 2 possible timelines

“Next week, we will be writing the legislation to create a path to final passage for the Biden American Rescue Plan, so that we can finish our work before the end of February,” Pelosi said on Feb. 5, casting a new possible target date range for when Congress may approve a bill, and the $1,400 stimulus check to go with it (calculate your potential total here). 

We’ve mapped out some hypothetical dates for two situations: if a bill were to pass before the end of February, or by March 14, a date when some existing benefits lapse. The chart below highlights when the IRS could potentially send the next stimulus check, based on how quickly the IRS processed and sent out the second stimulus payments. 

Note that different payment groups by method (direct deposit, physical checks and EIP cards) may begin to show up at different times. And it could take weeks for people in a group to all get their funds, so consider these dates a starting point only, and read on for more details. We’ll refresh these dates as the situation changes in Washington.

When could the next stimulus check possibly arrive?

Stimulus check passes Congress	Friday, Feb. 26	Friday, March 12
Stimulus bill signed into law	Monday, March 1	Sunday, March 14
First direct deposit check sent	Week of March 8	Week of March 22
First paper checks sent	Week of March 15	Week of March 29
First EIP cards sent	Week of March 22	Week of April 5
Claims for missing stimulus money open (after tax season ends)	May 3	May 3

Which stimulus payment group could you be in? That might change

This is an important question. Direct deposit recipients typically get their stimulus checks faster, as evidenced by the first two rounds of payments. But both times there have been issues involving deposits going to temporary accounts, which were rejected by banks.

The IRS told CNET in January that some people who received a physical check or EIP card the first time may get paid by the other method the second time around. And, anecdotally, we’ve heard of people who received direct deposit payments the first time finally getting an EIP card in the mail — and not an electronic bank transfer — two weeks after the IRS tool said the payment was issued.

Our recommendation is to make sure you have direct deposit set up with the IRS as part of your 2020 tax return, if you ordinarily file taxes. We also suggest you attempt to file them quickly, so you’re set with your most recent financial information.

The other payment groups loosely defined (by us) include Social Security beneficiaries, who received payments a different way the first time if they’re part of the SSI or SSDI programs, and people with more complex scenarios that could lead to potential issues or holdups receiving their money. People in different child support situations have been one example, and so have people who are incarcerated, as well as those with complex citizenship scenarios.

How fast could the IRS get all of the third stimulus checks sent out?

In fewer than three weeks from the date the second stimulus bill passed in December, the IRS and Treasury sent about 147 million payments. That was a tremendously fast turnaround. Back in March, it took the IRS 19 days after the first stimulus bill passed to the first check being issued. 

The Dec. 27 stimulus package gave the IRS just 17 days total, including weekends, to legally send out the payments, though some people have reported they received their EIP cards two weeks after the date the IRS tool said it had shipped. (If you didn’t get yours, you have to claim it as part of tax season 2020.)

There was one notable direct deposit error as a result of the IRS’ rush to get payments delivered, and people who didn’t get their payment may now have to wait weeks or months for their second checks. But the scenario suggests that if the protocols are in place, the IRS could theoretically ship out third stimulus checks within days and weeks, rather than weeks and months.

As an interesting data point, the IRS was able to process between 5 and 7 million a week with the first stimulus check, according to a government report from June.

Could tax season impact a new stimulus payment? Absolutely

This is a great question, and it’s part of another question we repeatedly ask ourselves: How would the IRS and Treasury handle a third stimulus check? Some of that could very well depend on timing. For a start, it may be that the third check would rely on your 2019 taxes, not your 2020 tax return.

Let’s say that a stimulus bill were to pass both chambers of Congress before March 14, a month after the IRS begins processing the first 2020 tax returns. Would it send a separate check or attempt to bundle them in with the Recovery Rebate Credit for missing money from the first two checks? Either way, the IRS would have little time or available resources to process the third checks, or to change its protocol to wrap the second into taxes.

If a bill passes March 14, it would still overlap with tax season by a month, before the April 15 tax deadline. 

By that time, tens of millions of Americans may have already received their tax refunds, which could make it tricky for the IRS to straighten out problems or redact refunds after issuing. Things could get complex whether the IRS attempts to fold a third check delivery into the remaining tax cycle or to send a payment separately. 

How can I get my third stimulus check faster?

There may be a few things you can do to help speed up receipt of a third payment, assuming it happens. For example, signing up for direct deposit in your 2020 tax return would put you in the priority category for a third stimulus payment. 

And if you’ve moved recently, tell the IRS and USPS. Here are our other suggestions for how people can make it more likely they’ll get their second checks faster. Note that there could be some changes to qualifications that may not apply to a possible third stimulus check.

Would the IRS have to meet a deadline for sending out checks, like last time?

The Jan. 15 deadline set for the second stimulus check was written into the text of the bill without explanation. It isn’t immediately clear if the bill text would adopt another cutoff in the future, or if that was a one-time consideration that took into account the IRS’ overlapping need to process stimulus checks and prepare for the 2020 tax season. Last year, the April 15 tax date was extended to July 15.

The two overlap with the second stimulus check in that anyone who didn’t receive all or part of their second payment must claim it as part of the IRS’ Recovery Rebate Credit on their tax return — even if they have nonfiler status and aren’t typically required to file taxes.

Is a third stimulus check absolutely going to happen?

A bill that includes a stimulus payment isn’t a done deal until it’s signed into law. That said, Biden appears determined to drive forward a $1,400 check as part of his overarching stimulus plan, and Democrats in Congress have paved the way to push a bill through Republican opposition using a tool called budget reconciliation. 

Here’s everything you need to know about stimulus checks in general, including what to do if you run into problems with either of the first two payments.