GOP-controlled House votes to overturn Trump tariffs on Canada
The Republican controlled House of Representatives voted to overturn President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada.
Tax season has kicked into high gear, setting off questions about 2025 tax returns, 2026 stimulus checks, including Trump’s $2,000 tariff dividend payment status or how to check on where’s my refund from the IRS.
The most recent proposal from President Donald Trump for a possible tariff dividend rests on a looming Supreme Court decision over the legality of those tariffs.
Here’s what and when to know about stimulus checks, IRS refunds, and how to track them or their status.
Are we getting a stimulus check 2026?
Trump has vowed to issue dividend checks to “individuals of moderate income” sometime in 2026, before the midterm elections.
However, there has been no approval from Congress or the IRS for this or any other fourth stimulus check to date.
There were three prior stimulus checks tied to COVID-era stimulus programs, the third and last of which had an April 15, 2025 deadline to claim. The opportunities to claim or file have now passed for all three stimulus checks.
While speculation about a fourth stimulus check has surfaced on social media and unverified websites, there has been no official confirmation from Congress or the IRS to support this claim and any such news should be taken with caution as it could be misinformation or attempted fraud.
When are we getting a $2,000 tariff dividend check?
Trump’s promised $2,000 tariff dividend payment to “middle income people and lower income people” from the “hundreds of millions of dollars” collected in tariff revenues still lacks formal proposal despite promises from the president that payments would be issued sometime in 2026, before the midterms.
The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling soon on whether to strike down all or part of the tariffs and clarify how importers would receive tariff refunds.
Where is my federal tax refund?
If you filed your federal taxes electronically and included your banking information, then you may expect a direct deposit within 21 days. If you did not include banking information, then you may expect a paper check refund via the mail within six to eight weeks.
Submitting your return is not the same as the IRS accepting your return. Once it is accepted, you will know it has if you see a “Refund Sent” alert when you check your tax return status online, at which point you won’t have to wait too long for the funds to show up in your account.
Once the IRS approves your refund, it could hit your bank account within days via the direct deposit option.
The IRS has an online tool called “Where’s My Refund” that allows you to check on the status of your refund.
You can start checking the status of your refund within 24 hours after you e-filed your return. The refund information is updated on the IRS website once a day, overnight.
The online tool requires you to enter your Social Security number, filing status and exact refund amount on the return. It will then respond with a return received (processing), refund approved (preparing to issue refund by date shown) or refund sent (send to your bank or in the mail).
The other way to check on the status is to call the IRS at 800-829-1954.
Where is my state tax refund?
Most states have dedicated online portals for tracking income tax returns.
The Delaware Division of Taxation has established an online portal you can access to check the status of your state refund.
To check the Pennsylvania online portal for state tax refund, click here.
To check the New Jersey online portal for state tax refund, click here.
Maria Francis is a Pennsylvania-based journalist with the Mid-Atlantic Connect Team.
