How Do I Claim My Third Stimulus Payment
The IRS said in early March that most residents who received SSI and SSDI benefits in 2020 “should not need to take any action” to get their third stimulus payment.
The IRS will “automatically send” third stimulus payments to those who didn’t file a tax return but are recipients of SSI, SSDI, Railroad Retirement and Veterans Affairs benefits.
However, some of those expecting to receive an automatic third stimulus payment based on their federal benefits information may need to file a 2020 tax return even if they don’t usually file taxes.
“If your third payment does not include a payment for your qualified dependent who did not receive a third payment, you must file a 2020 tax return to be considered for an additional third payment even if you don’t normally file,” the IRS advised on March 4.
On March 4, the federal body said it is working with the aforementioned federal benefits agencies “to get updated information for 2021 to assist with stimulus payments at a date to be determined.”
S You Should Take To Recover Your Stimulus Check
If you have not received your payment or have received less than the eligible amount, the veteran affairs and the social service department will refer you to the IRS.
But directly contacting the IRS operators will not help as they only have information that you can get from the Get My Payment tracking tool.
Keep the letter mailed a couple of weeks after the IRS has dispatched your check. It is a vital document that contains valuable information that will help you if your check goes missing or if you receive less than the amount you calculated.
If you do not receive your stimulus check within a stipulated time after it was dispatched by the authorities, you might need to file a payment trace.
If Someone Else Oversees My Federal Benefits Account How Will I Get My Stimulus Check
If someone, also known as a representative payee, helps manage your Social Security benefits on your behalf, that person — a relative, friend or someone appointed on behalf of an organization — should discuss your benefits with you, the beneficiary. That’s according to guidance from the Social Security Administration. So if you’d like to use your money, the person managing your account should provide you with the stimulus payment.
“Your Individual Representative Payee should have received your EIP to the same direct deposit account or Direct Express card as your monthly Social Security or SSI payment,” the SSA says on its site. “For an Organizational Representative Payee, the payee likely received the EIP electronically or by paper check in the mail.”
The SSA says representative payees aren’t required to account for the stimulus payment when they complete their annual accounting form, as it’s not considered a Social Security benefit.
You could be missing out on more stimulus money.
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How To Track The Status Of Your Third Stimulus Check
The IRS’s “Get My Payment” tool lets you track your third stimulus check payment. The online portal lets you:
- Check the status of your stimulus payment
- Confirm your payment type and
- Get a projected direct deposit or paper check delivery date .
Payments for Social Security recipients and other federal beneficiaries may have already been reported in the portal as “pending” or “provisional” payments. However, the official payment date is today.
Will The Stimulus Money Affect My Eligibility For Disability Benefits
For SSI eligibility purposes, the stimulus check wont count as income to you, and you dont need to report it as income to the Social Security Administration. Plus, its not taxable. In addition, for SSI, the stimulus money wont count as a resource unless you still have all or part of it 12 months after receiving it.
For SSDI eligibility purposes, income and assets dont matter, so the stimulus check will have no effect.
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What If My Stimulus Check Or Was Lost Destroyed Or Stolen
If the Get My Payment tool says your payment was direct-deposited, but the money doesnt show in your bank account after five days, first check with your bank. If the bank says it hasnt received a payment, you can request a payment trace.
To request a payment trace, call 800-919-9835 or fill out IRS Form 3911, Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund.
Similarly, if the Get My Payment tool says your payment was mailed and you havent received it, you can request a payment trace. The IRS will research what happened to your check if the check wasnt cashed, you will need to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 tax return. If the IRS finds that the check was cashed, youll receive a claim package from the Treasury Department with a copy of the cashed check and instructions on filing a claim.
If you received your stimulus check by mail but then it was destroyed or stolen, make sure you request a payment trace. If you claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 tax return without filing a payment trace, it will be denied, because the IRS will think that you already received the money.
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You Recently Switched Banks
Maybe youve finalized a divorce, or closed or changed your bank account to avoid fees or you moved to a new state where your old bank has no branches. Unfortunately, the IRS cant make a payment to an account it doesnt recognize.
If your most recent stimulus payment was sent to a closed or inactive bank account, by law the financial institution must return that payment to the government. The bank cannot hold and reissue the payment to you if the account is not active, even if you have other active accounts at the institution.
You cannot change the bank information that the IRS has on file. You will have to wait until the payment is returned to the IRS and then the government will mail a check or debit card to youand this may take a number of weeks.
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How Will I Get The Stimulus Payment
You will generally receive the automatic payment the same way you normally receive your monthly disability or pension paymentby direct deposit, Direct Express debit card, or paper check. Your stimulus payment, however, will come from the Treasury Department, not the Social Security Administration.
If you received the first or second check by direct deposit or Direct Express, you should receive your payment the same way, but there are no guarantees.
If you received your first or second payment by EIP Debit Card, you should receive a new debit card in the mail. It will arrive in a white envelope with Economic Impact Payment Card in the return address. Youll need to activate the card by calling the phone number that comes with the card and choosing a 4-digit PIN number. You can use your EIP card for purchases or use it to withdraw cash . You can also transfer the funds from your EIP card directly into your own bank account, after you register for online access.
If youve moved since last filing your taxes, you should file a change of address with the IRS on Form 8822.
What Should I Know If I’m Not Currently Living In The Us
If you’re a Social Security beneficiary with a foreign address whose monthly benefit is deposited in a foreign bank account, you should receive your third stimulus payment through either direct deposit, Direct Express card or a check in the mail, according to the SSA . The IRS began sending out payments to this group through direct deposit and Direct Express card on April 21, and began sending paper checks in the mail for this group on April 23
If you live abroad but receive your monthly benefits through a US bank, you should have received your first two payments by direct deposit to that account. If you still haven’t gotten your money, it will have to be claimed as part of a tax return. Find out everything you need to know about stimulus checks, citizenship and living abroad here.
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What To Do If Your Stimulus Check Was Taken By A Fraudster
If you did not SSI get your third stimulus check, and you find out that your check was issued by the IRS more than four weeks ago, you can ask the IRS to perform a payment trace. If it is determined after an investigation that your stimulus check was stolen, you should be able to have the check reissued to you.
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Will Disability Recipients Get 2021 Covid Stimulus Checks
Nearly half of all households in the United States have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic financially. During the pandemic, businesses have been forced to close or run with much less revenue, meaning they often have to lay off staff. This has impacted the households of business owners and their employees greatly.
Due to the substantial economic impact of the pandemic, the federal government has now approved the second round of stimulus payments for citizens. The first round of stimulus payments, approved in March of 2020, meant a payment of $1,200 per person, with considerations for children as well. More recently, in December of 2020, a second stimulus was approved for $600 per person, with similar considerations for children.
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How To Claim Missing Stimulus Money For Your Dependents
If you used the IRS Non-Filers tool from May 5 through Aug. 15 of 2020, the IRS shouldve automatically issued the catch-up payment for your dependents in October 2020. If you received your original stimulus money by direct deposit, you shouldve gotten the catch-up payment the same way.
If you filed for your missing dependent money by Nov. 21, 2020, the payment should have arrived by the end of 2020 in the same way you received your first payment . If you missed the deadline, your check should be included on your 2020 tax return in 2021, if you file for a Recovery Rebate Credit.
To check the status of your or your dependents payment for the first or second payment, you can check your IRS account.
When Is The Latest Round Of Stimulus Payments Expected For Ssi Ssdi Beneficiaries And Veterans
Federal beneficiaries who filed a 2019 or 2020 tax return or used the Non-Filers tool in 2020 may have already received a stimulus payment, or could get one in a future batch of checks being sent out by the government.
For most everyone else, payments started going out on April 7 by direct deposit or on your Direct Express card. For those receiving payments through the mail, those checks began on April 9. If you have a foreign address and don’t typically file a tax return, electronic payments went out around April 21 and paper checks on April 23. Veterans who don’t file taxes ordinarily should have received their payment on April 14.
The IRS and Treasury will use the information it has on file to automatically send you a check . People who have already filed a 2020 tax return this year to claim missing stimulus money may find that the IRS will use this information instead of your 2019 details if it has processed your latest return .
Some people may need to file a 2020 tax return, even if they don’t usually file, so the IRS has all the information needed to send payments to cover eligible dependents.
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How To Track Your Stimulus Check
The IRS said Tuesday the Get My Payment tool on the agency’s website won’t be updated until the weekend of April 3-4, so federal beneficiaries will have to wait until at least then to check on the status of their payments. VA benefit recipients may have to wait until at least mid-April to use the tool.
Changes To Disability Benefits For 2022
If you receive SSI or SSDI benefits in 2021, expect to see a change in the monthly payment as of January 2022. The maximum federal SSI payment of $794 in 2021 for an individual and $1,191 for a couple increases to $841 and $1,261 respectively in 2022. You may receive more each month than the federal SSI amount if you live in a state that pays a supplement to residents who qualify for SSI.
The SSDI program does not have a base monthly payment as does SSI. Social Security calculates monthly SSDI payments based, in part, on the amount of your lifetime earnings from working for an employer or through self-employment and paying Social Security taxes on the income.
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Recommended Reading: Ww.irs.gov Where My Stimulus
Do Ssdi And Ssi Recipients Have To File A Tax Return
People who receive monthly SSDI or SSI checks who did not file a tax return in 2018 or 2019 are not required to do anything, including filing a simple tax return, unless they have dependents. For those without minor children or other dependents, the IRS will look at Form SSA-1099 benefit statements to get the information it needs to send out the payments automatically.
Parents who have children under 17 or other dependents, who receive monthly SSDI or SSI checks, and who did not file a tax return in 2018 or 2019, however, might need to file a tax return by May 17, 2021 to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit for their minor children or other dependents.
Million Direct Deposits To Be Made By Wednesday
The IRS is issuing around 17 million direct deposits with an “official pay date” of March 24. It is also mailing around 20 million checks and debit cards in its latest batch of stimulus payments, according to a banking industry official quoted by The Washington Post.
The latest payments began processing on Friday and some people “may see the funds in their accounts earlier, potentially as provisional or pending deposits,” the IRS said Monday.
Those who don’t receive their direct deposit by March 24 are advised to “watch the mail carefully” in coming weeks for either a paper check or a prepaid debit card, as “a large number of this latest batch of payments will also be mailed,” the federal body noted.
Additional stimulus payments are expected to be made “on a weekly basis going forward” and the “vast majority” will receive their funds by direct deposit.
“The IRS and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service leveraged data in their systems to convert many payments to direct deposits that otherwise would have been sent as paper checks or debit cards. This accelerated the disbursement of these payments by weeks,” the federal body said.
To check the status of your stimulus payment, see the Get My Payment tool at the IRS website.
The graphic below, produced by Statista, illustrates the composition of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package.
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Fourth Stimulus Check Approval: Heres What Itll Take
The White House hasnt responded to any of the proposals for additional stimulus checks, and the general sentiment is that a fourth stimulus check isnt likely. Economists have suggested weve already moved past the pandemics worst financial woes, although there are signs that Americans could still use relief.
Experts certainly seem in agreement that there wont be a fourth stimulus check. The latest stimulus package, the American Rescue Plan, is gonna be the last on that front, Deutsche Bank senior U.S. economist Brett Ryan told Fortune. No more checks.
Ed Mills, Washington policy analyst at Raymond James, agreed, telling CNBC recentlyI think its unlikely at this time. D.C. has largely started to pivot towards the recovery and an infrastructure bill.
Many economists and financial experts are worried that the third stimulus checks have contributed to a growing inflation rate. In June 2021, the core inflation rate, stripped of energy and food prices, rose 4.5% at an annual rate vs. the Dow Jones estimate of 3.8%. The overall consumer price index rose at an annualized 5.4% rate in June.
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What If I Am Eligible For The Stimulus Checks But I Didnt File A 2019 Or 2020 Tax Return And Didnt Use The Irs Non
File your 2020 tax return or use GetCTC.org if you dont have a filing requirement.
You can file a tax return even if you dont have a filing requirement to get other tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit.
If you didnt get your first or second stimulus check or didnt get the full amount that you are eligible for, file a 2020 federal tax return and claim them as part of your tax refund or use GetCTC.org if you dont have a filing requirement. The deadline to use GetCTC.org is November 15, 2021.
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Where Are Stimulus Checks For Veterans Social Security Recipients Ssi And Ssdi
The IRS is also now processing third stimulus check payments for this group of recipients and their dependents, following several weeks of delays. This was mainly attributed to in getting updated payment and dependent data from other federal agencies . The majority of SSI and SSDI recipients should have now started seeing stimulus payments hitting bank accounts, with mailed checks and debit cards arriving in the coming weeks. But it would not surprise me if their newly eligible dependent payments take even longer to get paid out.
For those Social Security and other federal beneficiaries who didnt file a 2020 or 2019 tax return and didnt use the Non-Filers tool last year, payments will start as part of batch 3 and 4 processing . The IRS is also making stimulus payments for Veterans Affairs benefit recipients with the GMP tool now showing payment status for this group of recipients.