Stimulus Check Update: Make Sure You Don’t Miss Out On The Latest IRS Missive To Collect Due/Pending Payments

social security Stimulus Check
Stimulus Check 

While the majority of Americans have already received the three rounds of Economic Impact Payments, the pandemic-linked stimulus checks continue to elude a small percentage of Americans. But that still adds up to millions of Americans who did not get their stimulus check despite being eligible for it. The last time the IRS counted the figures, it was around 10 million in the last quarter of 1022.

The majority of this group were individuals and families who did not exist in the records of the IRS. Around 46% of households in America pay no federal income tax or receive more from the IRS than they pay. and the major reason for not having to pay federal income tax is low income.

Many Americans Exempt From Federal Income Tax And Hence Miss Out On Stimulus Checks

After standard deduction and other exemptions, these households comprising individuals and families have their taxable income reduced to zero. The basic structure of the income tax system simply exempts subsistence levels of income from taxation.

Low incomes exempt millions of households from paying income tax through standard deductions and personal exemptions. This accounts for around half of the people who do not have to pay federal income tax.

The second reason is that a majority of senior citizens receive Social Security and Supplemental Security incomes and are exempt from federal income taxes. The third reason is that the US relies on the tax code to provide benefits to low-income groups, particularly households with children.

Tallied together, the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the childcare credit benefits account for around 15% of the people who are exempt from paying income tax.

Combined, these 3 factors: income below the personal exemptions and standard deductions; exceptions for most Social Security; and tax benefits that are meant exclusively for low-income households and their families – together account for close to 90% of the Americans who do not pay federal tax.

But the contention that 50% of Americans is not true because there are many other forms of taxes including sales tax, excise tax, payroll tax, and property tax which most Americans pay. Many Americans who do not pay federal income tax still end up paying many of these other taxes.

But this section of Americans could be missing from the IRS data and hence the IRS finally had to rely on other data to send out the letters to these 10 million Americans.

Multiple Rules For Claiming The Missing Federal Stimulus Check

While the three rounds of stimulus checks were on every eligible American focus, it might be hard to believe that millions missed out on the stimulus checks linked to the pandemic that they might have collected in 2020 or 2021. The sheer volume of the households that missed out on the stimulus check has forced the IRS to garner data from other sources and send out letters to nearly 10 million households instructing them to collect the third Economic Impact Payment.

The IRS published directions for all Americans who are eligible but missed out on one or more of the stimulus checks during that period. The IRS has informed that anyone who misses out on the first and second stimulus checks can claim it by filing their federal income tax return for 2020. Those who missed out on the third Economic Impact Payment can claim their payment by filing the federal income tax return for 2021.

For those who are unsure of which of the stimulus checks they missed, there are a few guides and reminders to help them along.

In the first round, eligible taxpayer adults received a stimulus check of $1,200 under the CARES Act. The payments were credited to filer bank accounts across America on the weekend ending April 12, 2020. The Economic Impact Payment cards were sent out over a month later, with the preloaded debit cards arriving between May and June 2020.

The second round came in December 2020, although the actual payments happened only in January 2021. Eligible adults and dependents, aged sixteen or under. received $600 with the stimulus checks that arrived between December 29, 2020, and January 15, 2021.

The third round was the biggest of the three and under the American Rescue Plan Act signed by incoming president Joe Biden. Eligible adults received a stimulus check of up to $1,400 with eligible dependents also receiving an equivalent amount, with no limit on the number of dependents.

The first wage of the third-round stimulus check hit the bank account by direct deposit on the weekend of March 13 and 14, 2021. The paper checks followed and continued for most of 2021.

For those who did not file their income tax returns for either 2020 or 2021, you will have to file them immediately to get your economic impact payments. This applies even if you are generally not required to file returns due to your low income.

For those who file an income tax return for either or both of 2020 and 2021 but did not file for the Recover Rebate Credit, claimed by filers who did not receive their economic impact payments, they must go for an amended income tax return.

It would be wrong to infer that the IRS will send out the stimulus checks on its own. If you have omitted to mention anything in the Recovery Rebate Credit column or marked the box with zero, the IRS treated it as a decision by the filer not to claim any credit from the government.

The IRS will only fix the issue if they suspect that you made a mistake. In most cases, the IRS automatically inputs the correct claim amount and sends the stimulus check accordingly.

A missing stimulus check can easily be traced by accessing the IRS account online. Once you are logged in, you would need to check the amount on the Tax Records page to get the exact details of how much money you were sent.

If the agency has specified that it issued a stimulus check in your name, but it hasn’t arrived, you need to immediately call the IRS at 1-800-919-9835. The IRS will investigate the issue and respond within 6 weeks.