22 Mar 2021 Claim Your Economic Impact Payments on Your 2020 Tax Return
One of the more tax-troubling issues this year is the distribution of what Congress refers to as the recovery rebates. You may know these payments as the Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) or Stimulus Payments. In addition, the recovery rebates are actually a refundable tax credit on 2020 tax returns.
If you are among those eligible for a rebate who haven’t received a payment, or the amount you received is less than what you are allowed, take heart. Since it is really a credit on the 2020 tax return, you can claim your missing or additional rebate amount when you file your 2020 return. However, when you claim the rebate credit on your 2020 return, it will be based upon your 2020 AGI and family makeup.
If the EIP you received was larger than the recovery rebate credit you are entitled to on your 2020 return, you will not have to pay back any of the difference. On the other hand, if your EIP was less than what’s allowed on your 2020 return, you can claim the difference as a credit.
Please include your EIP amounts for both Spring 2020 and January 2021 when submitting your tax documents this year. We will automatically reconcile the advance rebate with the amount determined on your 2020 return. Please contact us if you have questions.
If you discarded the letters 1444 & 1444-B notifying you of the amount of the stimulus payments received, you can get this information from your IRS secure access account online. If you are Married Filing Jointly, each taxpayer and spouse will show their entire amount and 50% of the amount received for the dependents.
Didn’t Get Your Economic Impact Payment?
If you did not receive your EIP, you can verify this by using the IRS Get My Payment tool.
If you received an EIP card and unintentionally threw it away, it cannot be reconciled on your 2020 tax return. Because the EIP was paid, you need to call MetaBank, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s financial agent and request a new card to be resent free of charge. The number to call is 800-240-8100.
If you were issued a paper check and have either lost it or did not receive it you need to initiate a trace before filing your 2020 tax return. If you do not request a trace on your payment, you may receive an error when claiming the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 tax return. Since the payment was issued to you, you may not be eligible for any credit.
Payments that weren’t received now have to be claimed as the Recovery Rebate Credit on the 2020 tax return or they will not be paid out, also note they will not be sent until the trace has been requested and it is confirmed the payment wasn’t made. Learn more.