The Internal Revenue Service announced this week that “time is running out” for some taxpayers to request refunds for unpaid stimulus checks.
In 2020, the federal government issued two stimulus checks, otherwise known as Economic Impact Payments. There are still some people who haven’t claimed the money because they haven’t filed their tax return for that year.
The IRS said in a news release this week that people eligible for this period’s stimulus checks are now approaching the May 17 deadline to apply for the funds potentially worth thousands of dollars.
File your 2020 tax return to receive stimulus checks
The first stimulus checks were issued in April 2020 in the amount of $1,200 to individuals ($2,400 for couples filing jointly) who qualified for the full amount, followed by $600 payments that were been filed starting from December 2020.
Millions of eligible taxpayers, however, did not immediately receive their checks. The issue has especially affected low-income Americans who don’t normally file federal income tax returns.
The process for these people to get stimulus checks requires filing a 2020 tax return even if they had no income that year.
If you’re eligible for a check and haven’t already filed those taxes, you should file a 2020 return before May 17 to claim the stimulus money as a rebate that will be paid as a tax refund, the IRS said.
This payment is known as the 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit, and you claim it on line 30 of your 2020 tax return.
The deadline is approaching because your right to a tax refund expires three years after the tax deadline. Tax day was actually later than usual during the filing season – May 17, 2021 – due to a pandemic extension. The next deadline is three years from that date.
A third stimulus check was distributed in 2021 of up to $1,400 to individuals. The deadline to claim this money, if you haven’t already done so, is April 15, 2025 (three years after the deadline for filing your 2021 taxes).
Where’s my stimulus check?
To see if you received stimulus payments in 2020, you can log into your IRS online account and go to the “tax records” tab. (This is now the primary way to track your stimulus check since the agency retired its Get My Payment tool.)
If you didn’t receive one of the stimulus checks, it may be because you didn’t file tax returns to claim the 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit. To be eligible for the rebate you must be a citizen that year, not a dependent of someone else, and have an income below a certain threshold.
Where is my refund?
If you’re due a stimulus check, the only way to get it is through a tax refund. For 2020 stimulus checks, you will need to file your tax return for that year by May 17.
To check the status of a tax refund, you can typically use the IRS’s “Where’s My Refund” tool. However, it only works for tax years 2021 and later. You may need to contact the IRS if you need an update on the status of a 2020 refund.
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