Missed stimulus money isn’t lost

The Internal Revenue Service said it has sent out all remaining stimulus payments, and eligible Americans who haven’t received one or both will need to claim them on their income-tax return.

The agency on Feb. 16 said it has issued all “legally permitted” stimulus or Economic Impact Payments from the first round that began in early 2020 and the second round that began in late December.

The IRS said it’s now is turning its full attention to the tax-return filing season that began Feb. 12.

The IRS and Treasury Department issued $270 billion in more than 160 million first-round payments starting last April and 147 million payments totaling $142 billion in the latest round. A possible third round of payments is under consideration in Washington.

While some second-round payments might still be in the mail, the IRS said it has issued all payments that it’s “legally permitted to issue, based on information on file” for eligible recipients and is no longer updating its “get my payment” section at irs.gov.

The payments are advances on the special Recovery Rebate Credit that Congress authorized last year.

“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,” the agency said in a news release. However, these individuals must file a 2020 federal income-tax return to get it.

Eligibility for the recovery credit, and the dollar amount, will be based on 2020 tax-return information. The two prior Economic Impact Payments were based on 2019 tax-year information (or 2018 information if a 2019 return had not been filed and processed).

Taxpayers will need to know the amounts of any Economic Impact Payments they received to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit. Form 1040 includes a worksheet.

In the initial round, the government paid up to $1,200 for individuals and up to $2,400 for married couples. The full amounts were paid to people with up to $75,000 in adjusted gross income (singles) or $150,000 (couples), phasing down and out above those levels.

The second round paid up to $600 for individuals, $1,200 for married couples and $600 per qualifying child. Second-round payments also phased out above $75,000/$150,000. Unlike first round payments that were sent mainly by check or direct deposit, many second-round payments were distributed on debit cards.