"Did You Know?" #11, Part 1

DID YOU KNOW if you have not yet received your 2020 Economic Impact Payment (Stimulus), you must act soon or you will lose it?

If you did not receive the 2020 Economic Impact Payments, more commonly known as the Stimulus Payments, it’s not too late to get them but you must act fast. In 2020 the government mailed out checks based on known addresses from the 2019 returns. People, particularly at risk for not receiving those checks, were those who had moved since they filed their 2019 return or those who had not filed a recent tax return, such as senior citizens and other taxpayers who didn’t earn enough income to be required to file 2019 returns. In those instances, the only way to receive the payment was to file a 2020 income tax return and claim the Recovery Rebate Credit.

The Internal Revenue Code requires that a claim for a refund be made within three years of the due date of filing the return. Because of COVID, the deadline to file the 2020 return was extended to May 17, 2021. This makes the three-year limit to file an original 2020 return and get paid a refund on May 17, 2024. There is a bit of a caveat that if you have already filed a 2020 return and are amending it to claim the recovery rebate, the deadline to claim the credit is April 15, 2024. Either way, you must act fast or you will lose this valuable credit. Similarly, the deadline to file for the 2021 payment of $1400 will expire next year on April 15, 2025.

If you’re not sure whether you received the credit(s) or not, you can set up an online account at www.IRS.gov and look at your account transcripts for 2020 and/or 2021. You can also call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040.

Also, please note that the filing deadline for your 2023 return is April 15, 2024.