HOUSTON – If that $1,400 stimulus payment is burning a hole in your pocket, take a minute before you blow it all in one place. If you have any cash left over, put it into an interest-bearing savings account. You can then look at paying down high-interest credit card debt. You don’t want to lose money to interest payments. Advisors say going on a shopping spree for items you don’t need is the worst way to use your stimulus money if you haven’t already paid for essentials, set up an emergency savings and paid off high-interest debt.

The Senate approved a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill which will provide stimulus payments of up to $1,400 for most Americans. Individuals who earn $75,000 or less eligible are slated to receive $1,400. Households will receive an additional $1,400 for each dependent child claimed on their most-recent tax filings. An online tool created by Omni Calculator allows users to estimate the payment they are likely to receive from the American Rescue Plan. AdThe online tool takes the user’s filing status, the number of dependents, and adjusted gross income to determine if they are eligible for the stimulus payment and how much they could receive.

Stimulus checks: When you can expect to get your moneyHOUSTON – If you know you qualified for the most recent stimulus payment but you never received it, the IRS says you will receive it when you tackle your taxes. Input the amount of money you received for the second economic impact payment, plus any amounts you received for dependents. If you don’t normally don’t file taxes, but are owed stimulus money, fill out the “non-filers” tax return form. Good newsIf you received a larger stimulus payment than you should have, the IRS will not take it back. You will get your refund back quicker than if you send your return in by snail mail.

HOUSTON – The Senate approved the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package Friday, which would include a third round of stimulus checks. Tune in as I discuss the state of our economy and the need for the American Rescue Plan. https://t.co/JmFqJvPL8z — President Biden (@POTUS) February 5, 2021READ: President Biden remarks on push for $1.9 trillion planAdThe White House is apparently open to narrowing the $1,400 stimulus checks to certain households but keeping those payments to $1,400 per person, according to the Washington Post. Congressional Republicans and senior Democrats raised concerns that Biden’s proposal to send another round of stimulus checks would give government aid to Americans who do not need it, according to reports. The third stimulus plan is in addition to the $600 checks Congress approved in December.

HOUSTON – If your second stimulus check never arrived, you may be able to track it down by requesting a payment trace. You have to listen to the recorded message before you can connect to an agent to make the request. Or you can mail or fax a completed form 3911. Mail the form to:Austin Internal Revenue Service3651 S Interregional Hwy 35Austin, TX 78741You should not mail Form 3911 if you’ve already requested a trace by phone. And you should not request a Payment Trace to determine if you were eligible to get a check, or to confirm the amount you should have received, the IRS said.

If you are one of several people whose stimulus payment was sent to Turbo Tax or H&R Block because you’ve used them in the past to do your taxes, here is an update that might give you some relief. Turbo Tax sent out an email Friday morning letting customers know that their payments would begin to be deposited starting Jan. 8. According to both companies, the IRS sent the payments to temporary pass-through accounts that were set up in 2019 for customers of H&R Block and Turbo Tax to receive tax refunds but no one has access to those accounts anymore. If you don’t get a deposit, a debit card or a check by Jan. 15, you will likely need to claim the payment on your tax return.

HOUSTON – The newly approved $600 stimulus checks started depositing in Americans’ bank accounts on Dec. 30, but many said they have yet to receive payment and are still waiting. The IRS launched its Get My Payment application Monday to help those who haven’t received their stimulus check track their status. According to the IRS website, Get My Payment will let you confirm the following:That the government sent your second Economic Impact payment, also known as a stimulus payment. Some people received their first Economic Impact Payment in partial payments. If you received partial payments, the application will show only the most recent.

Checks for $600 started arriving in some bank accounts via direct deposit this week. For people who didn’t file a 2019 tax return, they had to provide bank information by Dec. 22. So, what happens if you have switched bank accounts since then? According to IRS.gov, your payment information cannot be changed. AdIf your government benefits are currently deposited on a Direct Express Card, your stimulus payment will also be deposited to that card.

FILE - In this April 23, 2020, file photo, President Donald Trump's name is seen on a stimulus check issued by the IRS to help combat the adverse economic effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, in San Antonio. There were just a few hundred coronavirus cases when Congress first started focusing on emergency spending in early March. By the end of that month, as Congress passed the massive $2.2 trillion Cares Act, cases skyrocketed above 100,000 and deaths climbed past 2,000. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)(Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

HOUSTON – Want to know how much you’ll be getting on your next stimulus check? The Second Stimulus Check Calculator, created by Omni, calculates your upcoming check using your income taxes from 2019 (including your adjusted gross income (AGI) for 2019), the number of children in your household and your filing status. The calculator will be updated if there is any change to the $900 billion rescue package passed on Sunday. Most Americans will receive a $600 stimulus check under the new bill, while others will receive an extra $300 for each child dependent under age 17. To learn more about the calculator and requirements to receive your check, click here.

“Religion cannot get you the God experience.” So says Ravi Kathuria in his book Happy Soul, Hungry Mind. Religion can help you move toward spirituality.” Kathuria is a guest on this week’s Houston Newsmakers and says people need to understand the difference between the two in order to find the special love and contentment that comes with the combination of faith, religion and spirituality. Kathuria says understanding the relationship among them can also help alleviate the stress that many Americans are dealing with right now. A public private partnership is now in place to help struggling restaurants while also feeding those who are suffering as a result of the pandemic. Director, Cooperative Extension Program· Website: https://bit.ly/3l9bsXv· Twitter: @PVAMU

President Donald Trump said he’s in favor of another round of stimulus checks, NBC news reports. When asked in an interview with Scripps local TV news whether he plans to give Americans another round of checks, Trump responded: “Yeah, we are. We are.”Trump did not go into specifics about how much money Americans would receive but said it will be generous. It’ll be very generous,” Trump said. When asked when the details would be announced, Trump said it would likely be announced “over the next couple of weeks.”

Shortly after sitting down for Houston Newsmakers, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia announced she was self quarantining after coming in contact with a family member who had tested positive for COVID-19. Prior to that announcement she talked about a number of topics including the pending Justice in Policing bill. Senate Republicans say it is dead on arrival but Congresswoman Sylvia Gracia,(D) 29th, says its only a matter of time. Then we looked at it and then we worked together and tweaked it and frankly I think we made it better! More with Congressman Garcia on Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall and on Newsmakers EXTRA, which you can watch below. WATCH: Newsmakers EXTRA with U.S. Rep. Sylvia GarciaUrban League President says racial disparity trends don't match data (KPRC)Urban League focus on racial disparityIn the wake of protests across the country and the world against racial injustice, the Houston Area Urban League president & CEO says the trend does not match the data.

HOUSTON – The IRS started sending the very first stimulus payments in mid-April, but they are still millions they haven’t sent out. Even if you’ve checked it before and it gave you an error message or a “payment status not available” message, check it again. If they don’t have your bank account information, the IRS will hold your payment until it received your current mailing address. (800) 919-9835(800) 829-1040Will there be another stimulus payment? A second round of stimulus payments is possible, but it will be at least a month before that would happen.

HOUSTON – A Houston woman reached out to KPRC 2 after she said her friend signed up on a website to get an extra $800 stimulus payment. Kelly Thomas said the website asks for your social security number. When her friend typed his in, he got a message that he was approved for the extra $800 bonus. “Is there really an extra $800 out there for everybody?” Thomas asked consumer expert Amy Davis. He is now out a $300 because that is what he paid for Lifelock since he gave someone his social security number.

Wokaty said the two shared a bank account before her death, but it was closed soon after. According to Wokaty, they did a final tax return on the account in 2019 before closing it, that being for the 2018 tax year. Now, he refuses to cash it, saying it is still in his bank account and he won’t touch it. His bank told him his statement read that the deposit was for an IRS tax return, but Wokaty says the letter read that it was for a stimulus payment. “For being able to report it if you have erroneously received something, and to return it the right way,” Wokaty said.

After inputting some basic information, the tool can tell users when their payment is scheduled and how it will arrive. It also lets people update bank account information so that the IRS can send a direct deposit rather than a check, speeding up the payment process. At this time, those who see a "Payment status not available" message are not able to input bank account information to help speed up the process. But the IRS does not have your bank account information on file and the tool will prompt you to input that information. This might happen if you recently uploaded your bank account information to the IRS site.

Q: The IRS sent my stimulus payment to an old bank account that is now closed. This is generally the address on your most recent tax return or as updated through the United States Postal Service (USPS). Q: If my son is over 18 and I claimed him as a dependent, will he get a stimulus payment, or will I? A: Anyone over the age of 17 years old who is claimed by someone else as a dependent will not receive a stimulus payment. Will he still get a stimulus payment?

(CNN) -- More than 88 million people received their stimulus payments last week, totaling nearly $158 billion, the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service said Friday. That leaves about 62 million people who are still waiting for the cash payments authorized by Congress in March. The data shows that as of April 17, the greatest number of payments went to California, where 9.1 million taxpayers received a total of $15.9 billion. Recipients of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income, as well as some low-income veterans who receive pensions from Veterans Affairs, will receive the payments automatically. The IRS is moving much more quickly than it did the last time it delivered stimulus payments in 2008, when it took three months to start the process.

People have reported seeing stimulus payments in the bank accounts of their deceased loved ones, according to reports from several news outlets. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) shared a screenshot to Twitter of a conversation between himself and a friend who said his father received a $1,200 stimulus check even though he died in 2018. IRS spokesman Eric Smith told the Washington Post the government is working on a way to resolve the issue. Nina Olson, former head of the Taxpayer Advocate Service, told Market Watch that the “CARES Act stimulus bill contained no 'clawback’ provisions for stimulus checks sent to a dead person, meaning the agency can’t retrieve the money after it’s been handed out.”“This has been a tremendous success. COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019.

(CNN) -- The IRS created an online tool, called Get My Payment, that can be used to check on the status of your money. The Get My Payment tool allows taxpayers to input their bank account information so that they can receive the money electronically rather than by a paper check -- which could take weeks, or even months. While many people were pleased to see the money had been transferred to their bank account, others told CNN that they were frustrated to learn their payment status was not available. The IRS tool may indicate that a person is eligible for the payment, but that it does not have direct deposit information on file. In that case, one can input their bank account information to receive the money more quickly, rather than waiting for a check in the mail.

The IRS is not using bank account information it may have used to withdraw from your account if you owed money. They take out their fees and then transfer the remaining money into your bank account or a debit card. It may take longer for you to receive your stimulus money if that's the case. You aren’t normally required to file a tax returnThere are millions of low-income people who are not normally required to file tax returns that will have to take some action before receiving their stimulus money. The tool allows you to input bank account information for a direct deposit, or an address to receive a paper check.

(CNN) -- The Treasury Department said Monday that 80 million people will get their stimulus payments via direct deposit this week. The payments are being made first to eligible people who have already filed their 2019 or 2018 tax returns, and who have also authorized a direct deposit. Other people -- including those who haven't filed returns, haven't authorized direct deposit, or don't receive Social Security -- will have to wait longer for their payments. Treasury said Monday that it expects a "large majority of eligible Americans" will receive their payments within the next two weeks. The timeline keeps the first payments on the schedule promised by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said April 2 that the payments would begin going out within two weeks.

During a live White House coronavirus update Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence announced Americans will begin to see their economic impact payments direct depositing into their accounts next week. Watch the full update below, or click here to pick up right where Pence addresses the stimulus packages. “With regard to direct payments to Americans, the treasury secretary assured senators -- and we assure every American -- that we remain on the timetable where the first payments and direct deposits will go out by the end of next week,” Pence said. For tax filers who make more than those amounts, the payment amount will be reduced by $5 for each $100 above the said thresholds. We know many of you have many questions concerning your economic impact payments.

Previous stimulus payments in 2001 and 2008 have been delivered by both direct deposit and checks in the mail, but mobile payment services like Venmo want to play a role this time. The IRS will use your 2019 tax return, if you've already filed it, or your 2018 return to calculate the amount of your payment. Even those who don't normally need to file a tax return may have to in order to receive their payment. Social Security recipients will automatically receive stimulus payThe Treasury Department, clearing up confusion, said Wednesday that Social Security recipients will not have to file a tax return in order to receive the economic stimulus payments the government is preparing to send out. Those who do not receive their Social Security benefits via direct deposit will be sent a paper check.

U.S. citizens who receive Social Security benefits can expect to get a stimulus check, according to many reports. “The proposed bill includes language that allows Americans receiving Social Security—many of whom are retired and don’t file taxes—to obtain direct financial assistance through the coronavirus stimulus package,” according to Fortune Magazine. To determine their rebate, beneficiaries’ data will be accessed by the government through the Social Security Administration, Fortune Magazine reports. Under the $2 trillion stimulus package, those who qualify will receive the following amounts:$1,200 for a single adult who did not make more than $75,000, according to their filed 2019 taxes. $2,400 for a married couple who filed jointly and did not make more than 150,000, according to their 2019 taxes.

Q: Who will get a stimulus check? You must have a social security number to get a stimulus check. Otherwise, the stimulus check will be mailed. I haven’t filed my 2019 taxes yet, but my stimulus check will be smaller than what it should be. If you made less in 2019 than you did in 2018, the final amount of the benefits will be determined based on 2020 income and settled on the 2020 tax return.