At this time, you should have received all of the economic stimulus payments for which you’re eligible. The first two stimulus payments should have come to you last calendar year (via check, direct deposit, or card). If you didn’t receive these payments the “recovery rebate credit” allowed you to obtain these funds as a tax refund when you filed your 2020 return. The third round of economic stimulus disbursed March of 2021. Between these payments and the tax credit for 2020 you should now have all the funds for which you’re eligible. Unfortunately, there is a group of people which might have fallen through the cracks. Since the third stimulus payment was based on your 2019 tax return there is a chance your third payment was not for the full or accurate amount. If your marital status changed, you added a dependent, or if you saw a significant decrease in your income in 2020 you might be eligible for a larger stimulus payment in 2021 despite not being eligible for these dollars when initially disbursed.
So how will you receive these funds?
With the first two payments, If you didn’t receive them but were eligible, you were required to wait until you filed your 2020 tax return to claim the “recovery rebate credit.” In an attempt to alleviate this wait time for those who need these funds the IRS launched “plus-up” payments. The goal of these payments is to push the dollars to those who filed their 2020 return and were in fact eligible for more stimulus dollars (via lower income or additional family members) but didn’t receive them at the time they were disbursed.The IRS began launching these payments weekly as they reviewed tax returns. You can use the “Get My Payment” tool to track these dollars. The recovery rebate credit will still be available for those entitled to funds missed by the plus-up payments. As always, if you have any questions our team is available to help you review this space.
