The Internal Revenue Service announced this week that all first and second round Economic Impact Payments (stimulus payments) have been issued.
The agency began delivering the payments back in April under the first bill that was passed. It included payments of up to $1,200 per individual with a $500 per child tax rebate. In total, 160 million payments were made totaling $270 billion. Under the second bill, the IRS delivered more than 147 million stimulus payments in the second-round totaling over $142 billion.
The IRS said that the second round of payments had to be issued by January 15, 2021. It is possible that some are still in the mail, but all have been issued that were legally permitted to be distributed.
The IRS said that most people who are eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit have already received it, in advance, in these two rounds of Economic Impact Payments. If individuals didn’t receive a payment – or if they didn’t receive the full amounts – they may be eligible to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit and must file a 2020 tax return. Eligibility for and the amount of the Recovery Rebate Credit are based on 2020 tax year information while the Economic Impact Payments were based on 2019 tax year information. For the first Economic Impact Payment, a 2018 return may have been used if the 2019 was not filed or processed.
Individuals will need to know the amounts of any Economic Impact Payments they received to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit. Those who don’t have their Economic Impact Payment notices can view the amounts of their first and second Economic Impact Payments through their individual online account. For married filing joint individuals, each spouse will need to log into their own account.
