What If I Don’t Receive A Third Stimulus Check
Those who don’t file tax returns, including those who earn little income and recent college graduates, may have to wait until they file a tax return in April 2022 to get their stimulus rebate if they didn’t file a tax return for 2020 taxes or submit “non-filer” information to the IRS last year. Married couples with incomes below $24,400 and individuals with incomes under $12,200 fall into this category.
The IRS is still updating its Get My Payment tool with new payment information. Once it’s loaded with up-to-date information, individuals can check when their stimulus payment went out. If you have any issue with getting your second or third payment, see our article on what to do if you haven’t received your stimulus check.
Filing a tax return for 2020. If you don’t receive government benefits, and you didn’t file a tax return for 2019 or 2020 taxes or submit “non-filer” information to the IRS by November 21, 2020, you may not automatically get a third stimulus check. You might need to wait to file a tax return for the 2021 tax year and request a “Recovery Rebate Credit.” You will fill in the amount you are owed on line 30 of IRS Form 1040 .
Stimulus Checks: Marriages And Divorce
Q. We got married in 2020 how does that affect the amount we will get?A. Filing as jointly married versus separate for 2020 wont change the total maximum stimulus amount and you wont have to repay any stimulus you already received. However, now that youre married, you should determine whether it makes more sense to file jointly or separately, and its possible that one spouse with a higher income could affect eligibility for the recovery rebate credit.
For example, lets say you and your spouse had AGI amounts of $35,000 and $105,000 respectively. As single filers, youd receive the full stimulus payment because your AGI of $35,000 is below the threshold, but your spouses AGI of $105,000 would be over the limit and wouldnt qualify for a stimulus payment. However, if you file jointly for 2020, your combined AGI of $140,000 is below the threshold for joint filers, so you could claim your spouses portion as the recovery rebate credit.
Those who get married in 2021 will have a similar situation when they file their 2021 return.
Q. How does a recent divorce affect my stimulus check?A. What if you were married and filed jointly on your tax return and have since become separated or divorced? If the IRS issued a payment based on a jointly filed return, you will allocate half of each payment to each spouse when you calculate your credit on your single status returns.
Your Dependents Qualify Toward A Third Check With No Age Restrictions
For the first and second stimulus checks, qualified dependents were defined as anyone age 16 or younger . Each dependent counted toward the family total, with no cap on the number of child dependents claimed. That rate was $500 for each dependent as part of the first check, approved in March 2020 as part of the CARES Act, and $600 each for the second stimulus check that was approved and sent in December.
The new American Rescue Plan earmarks $1,400 per dependent of any age, to be included in the checks of their parents or guardians. For the first time, 17-year-olds and adult dependents are also eligible for a payment. This group includes around 13.5 million college students, older adults, and children of all ages with certain disabilities.
Also Check: When Will The Next Stimulus Checks Go Out
How To Claim A Dependent Child Over Age 18 Who: S In College
Hello sholloway06,
To claim an exemption for your child, you must be able to answer “yes” to all of the following questions:
- Are they related to you? The child can be your son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, adopted child or an offspring of any of them.
- Do they meet the age requirement? Your child must be under age 19 or, if a full-time student, under age 24. There is no age limit if your child is permanently and totally disabled.
- Do they live with you? Your child must live with you for more than half the year, but several exceptions apply.
- Do you financially support them? Your child may have a job, but that job cannot provide more than half of her support.
- Are you the only person claiming them? This requirement commonly applies to children of divorced parents. Here you must use the tie breaker rules, which are found in IRS Publication 501. These rules establish income, parentage and residency requirements for claiming a child.
Below I’ve provided a link that goes over the complete requirements in detail. If you have any additional questions or follow up questions please feel free to ask.
Will Dependents Get The Second Stimulus Check
Democrats and Republicans in Congress reached a deal Sunday on a new economic relief package, which will provide most Americans with another round of $600 stimulus checksincluding payments for dependent children.
The overall package will total about $900 billionless than half the amount Democrats had hoped for and nearly double the amount Senate GOP leaders had backed. In addition to $600 checks, the package will provide additional $300 weekly unemployment payments for up to 11 weeks to jobless Americans and provide $25 billion in direct rental assistance. The legislation will also include $82 billion for education, $45 billion for public transportation systems, $13 billion for food stamps and other nutrition benefits, and $12 billion to help minority-owned businesses.
When it comes to the stimulus checks, all Americans earning up to $75,000 per year will receive a $600 direct payment. Those earning more than $75,000 will receive a progressively smaller amount, with the income cap set at $99,000along the same lines as the $1,200 stimulus checks doled out under the CARES Act passed in March.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi emphasized the efforts Democrats had made to include more aid in the package to benefit working families. But she also pointed out that it was not an ideal bill from the Democrats’ perspective.
You May Like: How To Check For Stimulus Money
Who Gets The Dependent Stimulus Check
To get the third stimulus check, a tax filer must have a Social Security number and adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less for the 2020 tax year to get a $1,400 payment. That figure rises to $150,000 if they’re married and file a joint return and $112,500 if they file as head of household.
Then, an additional $1,400 is added to that person’s check for each dependent with a Social Security number who is claimed on their tax return.
For example, a couple who claims a 14-year-old child, a 20-year-old college student, and a live-in mother-in-law can get an extra $4,200 added to their check for a total of $7,000. And there’s no limit on the number of dependents a person can claim.
According to the IRS, adults who rely on another person for more than half of their expenses can be claimed as a dependent. That includes students up to age 19, or age 24 for full-time college students. Dependent adults can also include disabled people and retirees.
The dependent payments are subject to the same income phaseouts as the individual checks. A single filer who doesn’t qualify for a full check could still get a partial check if their AGI is under $80,000. The same goes for married joint filers with AGIs under $150,000 and head-of-household filers with AGIs under $120,000.
What Qualifies Someone As An Adult Dependent
An important piece of the puzzle, the IRS has a five-part test for determining which adults can be claimed as dependents.
Adult children have to be older than age 17 but younger than 19 to be considered an adult dependent from a tax perspective. If an adult dependent is a full-time student for at least five months of the year, the individual has to be under the age of 24. Most of the time, they have to be related to the adult taxpayer whos claiming them and share the same permanent address. Perhaps even more important: Adult dependents can work a full-time job, as many college students or adult-aged children do, but they cannot have provided more than half of their own support to be considered a dependent. Elderly parents and adults with disabilities who a taxpayer cares for also count.
Don’t Miss: Will My Third Stimulus Check Be Garnished For Child Support
Looking For More Stimulus Information
Find out about stimulus checks/payments for Social Security and railroad retirement beneficiaries.
Visit the IRS economic income payment information center for additional situations not covered here.
Stay up-to-date with our coronavirus resources
We know theres a lot of information to take in these days. To help keep you informed, we created a Coronavirus Tax Resource Center where you can find the latest news and details regarding tax extension dates, stimulus relief and more.
Related Topics
Learn more about deducting payments made to your spouse with advice from the tax experts at H& R Block.
Qualifications For A 1st Or 2nd Stimulus Check:
- You have a Social Security number, or you have a Taxpayer Identification Number and are married to a person with a Social Security number.
- You meet the income limits.
- You are not claimed as a dependent on another tax return for 2020.
- You file a tax return for 2020 and claim the Recovery Rebate Credit.
On your 2020 federal return, you should report the amount of stimulus you received. Anyone who was paid should have received Notice 1444 in the mail. The amounts are also reported on your IRS web account.
If you got anything less than the maximum amount $1,200 for single filers or $2,400 for couples in the first round, and $600 for singles or $1,200 for couples in the second round then your 2020 AGI will be used to determine how much credit you qualify for.
The good news: There’s no so-called clawback provision in the relief legislation. Anyone who qualified for a payment based on their 2018 or 2019 income, but doesn’t qualify based on their 2020 income because it’s too high, won’t have to pay back what they already got.
If that sounds like a lot of work, don’t worry. You’ll only have to answer a few questions if you use online tax software all the calculations will be done for you. The deadline to file your tax return is April 15, unless you get an extension but that will only prolong receipt of your stimulus money.
Also Check: Irs 600 Stimulus Check Status
Third Stimulus Check Dependents Over 18
Also, learn if the recently introduced tax breaks will make the family eligible for a bigger paycheck. The third check makes dependents of all ages, including young adults and older adults, eligible to add up to $1,400 each to your household’s total.
Third stimulus check 1,400 payment may arrive by late
How Can You Check Your Stimulus Check Status
The Get My Payment tool on the IRS.gov website went live on Saturday and can help track your payment and check the status of your money.
The website notes the tool is updated once per day, usually overnight, so there’s no need to check multiple times per day.
The “Get My Payment” tool will tell you:
- Payment date
- Payment method Note: mail means you may be issued an EIP card or a check
If your payment status is not available, that means the IRS has not yet processed your payment, or you are not eligible for a payment.
If you get a message that says “Need More Information,” that means your payment was returned to the IRS because the post office was unable to deliver it. The IRS said people who got this message will eventually be able to use the tool to provide additional bank account information.
Don’t Miss: Will My Stimulus Check Be Mailed
Which Dependents Qualify For A Stimulus Check
Unlike the first and second round of checks, payments for dependents in the third round are not restricted to only children under 17.
According to the IRS website: “Eligible families will get a payment based on all of their qualifying dependents claimed on their return, including older relatives like college students, adults with disabilities, parents and grandparents.”
How We Make Money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout lifes financial journey.
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers.
Were transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money.
Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.
Recommended Reading: Where’s My Stimulus Check 3 Irs
How Can A Dependent Get The $1400 Stimulus
In theory, primary taxpayers receive stimulus money for their dependents because they’re financially supporting them. Legally, the $1,400 doesn’t “belong” to the dependent even though they may be the reason the sum is being sent.
But there are always exceptions. So, how can you fix this? Are dependents powerless to get their own stimulus checks?
Per the text of the American Rescue Plan, dependents don’t qualify for their own stimulus checks. The law specifically defines an eligible individual as anyone who’s not a nonresident alien or an “individual who is a dependent of another taxpayer” for the year in question.
Solutions are slim. If you cannot be claimed as someone elses dependent, then you could file your own tax return. But the law forbids people from being “taken into account more than once,” including “by reason of a change in joint return status or dependent status” between two years.
There is also a timing issue to be aware of. Stimulus payments are going out now based on people’s 2019 and 2020 tax returns. The IRS is planning to adjust payments this summer and next tax season.
All of that considered, your best bet may be to politely asking the taxpayer who claims you to pass along the funds.
This story has been corrected to include more accurate information about federal income taxes and filing status.
Do College Age Kids Or Adult Dependents Get The Payment Directly
No. While college students and relatives who are claimed as dependents in 2019 or 2020 tax returns will be eligible to get this stimulus check payment they will NOT be getting a direct payment from the IRS. The dependent payment would instead go to the parent or qualified taxpayer which may be a surprise to many college aged kids hoping for some bonus/free money!
Also note, you cannot claim the stimulus check as an adult and as a dependent. If you were claimed as a dependent in a 2019 or 2020 tax return, you cannot now file a claim for the larger stimulus check.
Stay Connected:and see more on our YouTube channel
You May Like: Why I Didn’t Get My Second Stimulus
Dependents And The First Two Stimulus Checks
The third check makes dependents of all ages, including young adults and older adults, eligible to add up to $1,400 each to your household’s total. But if you’re brushing up on rules for the first two payments, you’ll find they’re not the same.
In terms of federal tax regulations, a dependent falls into two categories: a qualifying child or a qualifying relative. They don’t need to be children, or directly related to you, but they do have to meet certain requirements set out by the IRS.
To be claimed as a dependent on your taxes, a qualifying child must be either younger than 19 years old, or a student younger than 24 years old at the end of the calendar year. If, however, your child is what the IRS calls “permanently and totally disabled,” you can claim them as a dependent no matter their age.
To claim a qualifying relative — either a child or an adult — as a dependent, they must meet other IRS criteria. This might include an elderly relative who relies on you for care.
Even if a dependent was claimed on your tax return, only people who meet a specific definition of “child dependent” were eligible to count toward the household’s money from the first round of stimulus checks due to the requirements of the CARES Act. The same was true for the second round under the : The child dependent must be age 16 or under as of your 2019 tax return to qualify for any payment.
Stimulus Checks: Children And Dependents
Q. I had a baby in late 2020. Am I eligible for the child stimulus payments?A. If you had a baby in 2020, you are eligible for the $1,400 credit in 2021. This will be paid in an advance third stimulus payment if you filed your 2020 return by the time the payments were issued. If you didnt receive the first or second stimulus payment for your baby, you can claim the recovery rebate credit when you claim the child on your 2020 return.
Q. I have joint custody of my daughter with my ex-spouse, and I claimed her on my 2019 taxes . What do we need to know when my husband claims her?A. For the first and second payments, the spouse claiming the child in 2020 will claim the children and could receive the recovery rebate credit on the 2020 return.
However, for the third payment, divorced parents who alternate claiming their dependents each year, if an advance payment is received by one spouse for the dependent, no additional payment can be made for the same dependent on the other spouses return.
For example, if the payment is issued to Parent 1 because they claimed the child on their 2020 return, Parent 2 cannot claim the credit on their 2021 return even though they didnt receive the payment from Parent 1.
The second way is claiming the Recovery Rebate credit on your 2020 taxes, which you can do for the first or second payments. Youll receive the correct amount in the form of a tax credit that either lowers your tax bill or gets added to your refund.
Don’t Miss: Direct Express 3rd Stimulus Check Deposit Date