The checks are based on your adjusted gross income from either your 2019 or 2018 tax return, whichever is most recent.

If you are married to a non-citizen, you could also have been shut out of the one-time payment, based on the terms of the legislation that authorized the payments.

"If you did not receive the full amount to which you believe you are entitled, you will be able to claim the additional amount when you file your 2020 tax return," the IRS states on its website.

The agency also advises that you keep the form you receive regarding your stimulus payment, Notice 1444, and refer to it when you file your 2020 return.

For those families who receive duplicate payments for dependent children, they likely will not have to pay the money back.

But both of those parents should keep the notices on their stimulus payments that they receive for their 2020 tax records.

In other cases, taxpayers eligible for stimulus payments have died but were sent checks anyway based on their 2018 or 2019 tax returns, and relatives received the money.Those sums should be returned to the IRS, the agency states on its website, along with directions on how relatives or other associates can give back the money?

The answer to that question is that your money is likely still on its way.

The government is in the process of mailing out paper checks, while some people could receive their money via a prepaid debit card.

If you do not receive your money this year, it will likely come to you during tax-filing season next year?

"The IRS will provide information on what actions you need to take when you file your 2020 tax return when they are available," the agency states on its website.