The tax filing season has officially started in the US. That suggests that many people are looking for answers to their questions about filing.
The federal government gave qualifying Americans three rounds of economic impact payments, sometimes known as stimulus checks, during the early phases of the COVID-19 outbreak. The federal government introduced the Recovery Rebate Credit during the 2020 coronavirus epidemic; stimulus checks were made in advance of this tax credit. The first and second waves of stimulus checks were issued in early 2021 and 2020, respectively. Between March and December of 2021, checks for the third batch were written.
Stimulus Checks Are Still Available
Even if you don’t normally file a tax return, you must do so for those years in order to claim the credit. To obtain the credit, you must file an amended return if you filed a return but did not claim the credit.
According to the IRS, it is vital for eligible individuals claiming a Recovery Rebate Credit to understand that the stimulus checks are for distinct tax years. This means that unclaimed first and second stimulus payments must be reported on a 2020 federal tax return, while unclaimed third stimulus checks must be claimed on a 2021 federal tax return.
If you want to know if you are eligible to claim the 2020 or 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit for missing stimulus checks, you will need the tax year and amount of the payments you actually did get in order to correctly calculate the credit. The IRS states that you may calculate the credit using either your tax preparation software or the Form 1040 Recovery Rebate Credit Worksheet, which can be found on the final page of the form.
