Stimulus Update: Thousands of Americans Still Eligible for Third $1,400 Check — How To Claim on Taxes
Hundreds of thousands of Americans might still be eligible to receive their third $1,400 economic stimulus check, according to a new report from the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration.
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On March 30, the IRS stated it is no longer issuing first-, second- or third-rounds stimulus checks. However, valid taxpayers who missed a check or got an incorrect amount can claim the extra payment as a Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2020 or 2021 federal tax returns.
Although most individuals have received their third-round payment from the IRS, the Treasury claims 644,705 potentially eligible people hadn’t received a third stimulus check by the middle of September 2021, an estimated total balance of $1.6 billion. Some of these individuals eventually got their checks, but the total of late recipients is not identified in the report.
The reasons are numerous. Some families who had a child in 2021 may not have received their third payment for that dependent because the IRS relied on their prior tax returns to determine their eligibility. They simply wouldn’t have known about the eligible child.
If you had a decrease in income last year, you may qualify for a stimulus check now due to income cut-offs that have been rendered irrelevant. For example, if you originally made more than the $160,000 salary threshold, but fell below this income line in 2021, you may be entitled to stimulus funds.
However, most eligible people — about 420,000 — who missed out on getting a $1,400 check are individuals with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) and an eligible dependent. ITINs are most often used by workers who are required to file taxes but don’t have a Social Security number. Parents with ITINs who have dependents with Social Security numbers were eligible to receive a payment under the American Rescue Plan. This error has been investigated and 99.5% were being “considered” for a payment as of last September.
More than 130,000 people may not have received their third stimulus check due to an error related to unemployment payments. Still others may have missed out on their check due to an “unresolved condition” in their tax account or a status change in their filing.
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Regardless of the reason, eligible people can check how much they received — or haven’t — by signing into their IRS account and double-checking their bank statements. If a check shows paid on an IRS account but not on a bank account, the IRS should be contacted immediately to perform a payment trace.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Stimulus Update: Thousands of Americans Still Eligible for Third $1,400 Check — How To Claim on Taxes
