While most Americans have received their coronavirus stimulus payments by now, the IRS Get My Payment tool, which tracks the status of the checks, offers some hope to those who haven't. But for many, the IRS website not only didn't provide accurate updates, it left people worried they would never receive a payment at all.
The IRS customer service has not been very helpful, leaving people to turn to social media to share tips and tricks they used to get the site to work.
Jessica Roy of the L.A. Times noted on Twitter that after trying and failing to get the info she needed using the tool, she entered her address in all caps and found the status of her payment. Soon, others responded to her thread with the hacks they used to get the site to work.
"Many people, including this reporter, have found that entering their street address in all capital letters was the key to getting in and being able to enter their bank account information in order to have their stimulus funds deposited electronically instead of waiting for a check in the mail," she wrote, attributing the need for the hack to "arcane programming" still being used by the federal government.
Reddit is also filled with threads of people offering their own tips: Input "Ln" instead of "Lane," try only typing "Main" if you live on "Main Street," enter your information exactly as it appears on your last tax return, use a different internet browser, and on and on.
The IRS Get My Payment tool has been a source of frustration since it debuted a few weeks ago, telling many that their "payment status is unavailable," or that the agency's records did not match what they input.
"Critical" updates have been made to the site this week, and some people who reported they could not get the tool to work previously now say it shows their updated payment information, all caps or not.
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