As millions of Americans begin receiving their economic stimulus payments, the Internal Revenue Service released a list this week of the most frequently asked questions -- and answers -- that the agency is now receiving.
Since last week, millions of Americans have visited IRS.gov and called the IRS toll-free lines.
The fastest way to get answers, however, is to visit the IRS Web site.
"Just about every question about the stimulus payments is answered at IRS.gov," said Carrie Resch, IRS spokeswoman.
She said the "No. 1 question" is when taxpayers can expect their stimulus payment.
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The payments started going out last week. The initial round of payments will continue on a weekly basis through mid-July. In all, nearly 130 million payments will go out this year.
Last week, 7.7 million payments were direct deposited.
The first mass production of paper checks begins today.
The stimulus payments are automatic for eligible taxpayers who filed a 2007 tax return.
The payments will be issued according to the last two digits of the taxpayer's Social Security number. (For joint filers, use the number of the person listed first on the return.)
Payments will be made by either direct deposit or paper check, based generally on the option people chose when they filed their 2007 tax returns.
The agency will not call or e-mail about the stimulus payments.
The payment schedule is a general guideline and several factors could affect payment timing.
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For instance, paper returns filed but not processed by April 15 could result in payments later than the scheduled date.
In addition, a small percentage of tax returns will require additional time to process and to compute a stimulus payment amount. For these returns, stimulus payments may not be issued in accordance with the schedule above, even if the return was filed by April 15.
Finally, taxpayers who filed their 2007 tax return after April 15 will get a stimulus payment after their tax return is processed.
