The Internal Revenue Services has sent out more than four million economic impact payments in June, with more scheduled to be distributed over the next coming weeks.
Last week, officials at the IRS announced it has sent 2.3 million stimulus payments to Americans eligible to receive the checks under President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan. The new round of payments included "plus-up" adjustments for people who received less money than what they were initially entitled to.
On June 9, the IRS said it has now delivered more than 169 million relief payments, worth more than $395 billion. The last batch of checks is expected to amount to a total of $4.2 billion. However, many Americans said they have yet to receive any financial aid from the government, according to CBS News.
Millions of Payments
While millions of stimulus payments have begun hitting bank accounts and mails in March, many are still waiting for their checks from the Biden administration. Experts say it could be because the IRS is currently prioritizing sending out checks to people who had already filed their 2019 and 2020 tax returns.
However, the IRS has sent out 900,000 checks to people who recently filed a tax return but did not previously have their records with the agency. The tax agency also said they sent 1.1 million payments as "plus-up" adjustments for people who qualified for bigger checks based on their recently processed tax returns.
The IRS said it would continue sending out more payments. It also advised Americans to use the "Get My Payment" tool, which was launched to allow people to get an update on their payment status.
For Americans expecting their checks by mail, the U.S. Postal Service also launched a free online tool to track stimulus payments.
The latest batch of checks come as 25 states are set to end their enhanced unemployment benefits soon. Experts say millions of jobless workers receiving $300 weekly could be affected by the cut.
Loss of Benefits
A recent estimate from the Century Foundation and reported by CBS News, a liberal-leaning think tank, found that 1 in 4 people are estimated to lose their benefits due to the early cut off. The study also found that the unemployment rate in the U.S. is standing at 5.8%, which is far higher than the 3.5% recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2019.
A new study conducted by TransUnion also found that one-third of households continue to cope with reduced income because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"One spouse may be fine or one partner is fine but the other is seeing an impact," Charlie Wise, head of global research and consulting at TransUnion, noted in the study. "It'll take a lot to get everyone back to full employment."
This prompted a group of 20 Democratic senators to address a March 30 letter to President Joe Biden, calling him to send out recurring stimulus payments. The senators did not specify how much the checks should amount to, but they noted that the payment should last until the end of the pandemic.
Related Article: Third Stimulus Check: Why Do You Need to Track It?
