Stimulus checks worth $1,200 for every American have been 'delayed for days because Donald Trump demanded the IRS print his name on them after being told he was not allowed to sign them

The U.S. Treasury Department has reportedly ordered President Donald Trump's name to be printed on checks the Internal Revenue Service is planning to send to tens of millions of Americans, slowing their delivery by several days,.

The $1,200 checks to cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus crisis will bear Trump's name in the memo line, below a line that reads, 'Economic Impact Payment', the Washington Post reported on Tuesday citing unnamed administration officials.

The White House and the Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The decision to include Trump's name was announced to the IRS information technology team on Tuesday, the Post reported.

A fictitious United States Treasury refund check, which typically shows the signature of a career civil servant from the IRS on the memo line

'The team, working from home, is now racing to implement a programming change that two senior officials said will likely lead to a delay in issuing the first batch of paper checks,' the newspaper said.

The name of the president has never before appeared on checks issued by the IRS, such as for tax refunds. Those checks are typically signed by career bureaucrats at the agency.

Citing administration officials, the Post reported that Trump had privately suggested to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who oversees the IRS, to allow the president to formally sign the checks.

The president is not an authorized signer for legal disbursements by the U.S. Treasury, however. 

The checks will carry the signature of an official with the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the Treasury Department division that prints the checks. 

The report drew allegations that Trump is trying to use the stimulus checks to boost his re-election bid, by giving voters the impression that he is personally responsible for the relief payments.

Doors at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building in Seattle are seen in a file photo

'He is delaying printed checks so they can update computer code to include his name in the memo line. True story,' tweeted actress Alyssa Milano. 

'The narcissism has always been gross. Now it will delay millions of families from receiving money they desperately need,' Georgia-based publisher Hans Appen wrote. 

'Reports of further delays to the stimulus checks with the unprecedented requirement that they each be 6 feet long and individually delivered by the publisher's clearinghouse prize patrol,' joked radio producer Charles Bergquist. 

A Treasury Department representative, however, denied any delay and said the plan all along was to issue the checks next week.

'Economic Impact Payment checks are scheduled to go out on time and exactly as planned—there is absolutely no delay whatsoever,' the representative said in a written statement to the Post.

The individual stimulus checks are part of the $2.3 trillion aid package passed by Congress and signed by Trump last month. 

Many Americans will receive their stimulus check by direct deposit in their bank account, if they provided the IRS with direct deposit information on their 2018 or 2019 tax returns.

For those who did not file a return in either year, the IRS has an online form to provide payment information to receive a direct deposit or check.

The IRS has already begun issuing the one-time payments this week. Direct deposits are expected to go out faster than the physical checks.

Most adults who earned up to $75,000 will see a $1,200 payout, while married couples who made up to $150,000 can expect to get $2,400. Parents will get payments of $500 per child.

In recent days, social media posts have falsely claimed there's one catch to this money -- that you´ll eventually have to pay it back.

'Next year, you´re automatically going to owe $1,200 come tax season,' one of the videos, viewed hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube, falsely claims. The video has also been shared widely on social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.

The U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service, which are working to deliver the money to people, confirmed that households will not have to pay back the money in next year's tax filing.

'This is not an advance and there is absolutely no obligation to pay it back,' Treasury spokeswoman Patricia McLaughlin said in an email.

The confusion on social media appears to have stemmed from language in the economic rescue bill that refers to the checks as an 'advance refund' because the money is being given out in the 2020 tax year, before Americans have even filed their tax returns for the year.

The 2020 tax form has not been printed but the relief checks will not have any bearing on your income deductions next year, said Eric Smith, a spokesman for the IRS.