Payments designed to stimulate the economy began going out last week, and millions of Americans have been asking when they will get their money, the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday.

Other questions have centered on the amount of money people can expect, the eligibility requirements for stimulus payments and how to arrange for direct deposit of payments, the agency said.

Just about every question can be answered by going to the IRS Web site at www.irs.gov. However, here are a few answers worth repeating for common questions:

• Stimulus payments are automatic for eligible taxpayers filing a 2007 tax return. People don't have to do anything but wait for the money.

• Many but not all taxpayers qualify for maximum basic payment of $600 for singles or $1,200 for married couples. Many parents also are receiving an additional $300 for each qualifying child, born after Dec. 31, 1990. Payments are phased out depending on income.

• Payments are issued according to the last two digits of taxpayers' Social Security numbers. For joint filers, the IRS is using the Social Security number of the person listed first on the return.

• Payments are made either by direct deposit or paper check, based generally on how people filed their tax returns.

• Taxpayers who did not request a direct deposit in their tax return cannot request a direct deposit after the return has been filed.

• People receiving a regular income tax refund will get the refund first, and a stimulus payment will follow one to two weeks later.

• People not expecting a regular tax refund should receive their stimulus payments a minimum of six weeks after they filed their tax returns.

• People who filed a tax return on time but close to the April 15 deadline might not have had their returns processed before April 15.

• People who filed a tax return after April 15 should expect to wait a minimum of six weeks after filing to get their stimulus payment.

• A small percentage of tax returns could require more time to process and to compute a stimulus payment amount.

• People who do not normally need to file a tax return must file one to receive a stimulus payment. At least $3,000 of qualifying income is required, and that can include low-income workers and some recipients of Social Security, railroad retirement or veterans' benefits.

For most people, direct deposit payments for returns processed by April 15 should be transmitted no later than:

• May 2 for filers with Social Security numbers ending in 00-20.

• May 9 for Social Security numbers ending in 21-75.

• May 16 for numbers ending in 76-99.

Paper checks for returns processed by April 15 should be mailed no later than:

• May 16 for filers with Social Security numbers ending in 00-09.

• May 23 for Social Security numbers ending in 10-18.

• May 30 for numbers ending in 19-25.

• June 6 for 26-38.

• June 13 for 39-51.

• June 20 for 52-63.

• June 27 for 64-75.

• July 4 for 76-87.

• July 11 for 88-99.