ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Jan McClure has spent the past five months waiting for a stimulus check that was supposed to be deposited into her bank account on May 6.
The retired Orange County high school English teacher and her husband received a letter signed by the president that confirmed the economic stimulus funds had been deposited, but as of Tuesday, the funds were missing.
“This is just a horrible case of bureaucracy run amok,” McClure told News 6 Monday.
She said her efforts to get an explanation from the IRS by phone resulted in “vague answers” and then she was presented with IRS forms to initiate a trace for the missing check.
McClure said traces were initiated in June and again in July; both were unsuccessful.
She said she checked with her the credit union manager with Addition Financial to see if somehow the deposit had been missed.
“She said we would see it if it were attempted,” McClure recalled. “We didn’t see it.”
In late June the IRS had distributed approximately 160 million impact payments totaling $270 billion, dating back to April.
A spokesperson with the IRS said the July 20 trace in McClure’s case could produce a check by Oct. 20, 90 days late, but that nothing could be guaranteed.
Rep. Stephanie Murphy’s office said she will continue efforts on behalf of McClure “until she receives her payment.”
In a statement to News 6 Murphy said:
“My office continues to receive calls from Central Floridians who have yet to receive the economic impact payment approved by Congress earlier this year. As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, I’ve reached out to IRS multiple times to request updates for constituents on the status of their delayed or missing payments. What’s clear is that years of underfunding the agency have caused unacceptable delays that must be fixed. Throughout this crisis, I will continue advocating on behalf of my constituents, requesting rigorous oversight of this struggling agency, and pushing for additional funding that will help IRS ensure every eligible American receives this critical assistance from their government.”
So-called 1444 Notices issued by the IRS for May 22 deposits were delayed because of a “system error,” the agency said.
Jeffrey and Josie Yorinks of Orlando are also victims of that delay.
The retired couple received a notice that indicated their $2,400 stimulus checks were deposited into their bank account on May 22 but the funds were never deposited.
An IRS spokesperson sent News 6 a statement that was updated on Aug. 17 that confirms a glitch ”delayed some payments scheduled to mailed on that date due to a system error.”
The statement promised that Get My Payment service will provide a new date once payment by check has been scheduled.
The Yorinks said they received their benefit checks over the weekend.
Josie Yorinks said she was happy to see the mailbox finally contained something besides advertisements and bills.
“(I) jumped up and down,” she said. “I brought in the envelopes and waived them right in front of him.”
News 6 worked with Rep. Val Demings’ office to coordinate a trace of the Yorinks check.
In a statement, Demings wrote in part, “I’m grateful to News 6 for connecting Mr. and Ms. Yorinks with our office, and proud of our dedicated staff who worked to ensure that these constituents received their economic impact payments. We are continuing to work with the IRS and others to fix the flaws in this system, and hopefully, the Senate will see the wisdom of passing our legislation for additional individual payments and funding to get COVID-19 under control. In the meantime, I urge any 10th district constituent who is having trouble with their payments or any other federal issue to contact our office.”
The Yorinks live in her district and Demings’ staff worked to fast track results for the retired couple.
Florida is one of 26 states that reported delays for checks that were supposed to have been deposited on May 22.
The IRS confirms missing payments will be mailed to those affected to their home address.
Of important note for your taxes, the IRS will mail Notice 1444 documents to your last known address within 15 days after the payment is made. Keep Notice 1444, Your Economic Impact Payment, with your 2020 tax records.
For more information on finding your missing stimulus check, click here.
If you have an unemployment benefits issue email us at makeendsmeet@wkmg.com