Late last month, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) confirmed that all of the $1,400 stimulus checks that were approved by President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan have been sent out to eligible Americans.

But it appears that some taxpayers who qualify for the direct payments have yet to get their hands on the cash. The best way to rectify this troubling situation is to look out for Letter 6475 from the IRS.

According to USA Today, the letter can assist tax filers in determining if the IRS owes them more money and if they qualify for the Recovery Rebate Credit on their tax return.

“Even if you are not owed additional money, you’ll still need the letter to report any stimulus payments on your taxes,” USA Today’s report says.

After figuring out the total amount of the Recovery Rebate Credit, the IRS writes on its website that the missing stimulus check “can be direct deposited into your financial account. You can use a bank account, prepaid debit card or alternative financial products for your direct deposit. You will need to provide routing and account numbers.”

Child Tax Credit Letters

In addition, make sure to be aware that the IRS is issuing a separate letter to recipients of the enhanced child tax credit.

“IRS will send Letter 6419 with the total amount of advance Child Tax Credit payments taxpayers received in 2021,” the IRS writes. “People should keep this and any other IRS letters about advance Child Tax Credit payments with their tax records.”

However, it is important to note that the IRS has recently admitted that some of those letters may have included outdated or incorrect information. To access the most accurate information for your tax return, Ken Corbin, the IRS chief taxpayer experience officer, has advised taxpayers to go to IRS.gov and log into their account through the site.

“We want taxpayers to have the info they need to file an accurate return,” Corbin stated.

IRS Crippled By Backlogs

The IRS has already warned that due to ongoing staff shortages and massive backlogs of previous tax returns, it will likely be a difficult and rocky several months. This means that perhaps millions of tax refunds could be delayed.

The agency is currently dealing with 6.7 million unprocessed individual returns and 2.6 million unprocessed amended individual returns. Furthermore, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the agency has twenty thousand fewer employees than it did in 2010.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Washington state-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

Image: Reuters.