Am I Eligible To Receive A Stimulus Payment If I Dont Have A Social Security Number But Someone In My Household Does
It depends. While citizens and noncitizens with Social Security numbers generally were eligible for the first and second EIP rounds, individuals without Social Security numbers were not.
This changed for the third round when noncitizens without Social Security numbers were eligible for payments provided they lived in U.S. households where at least one member did have a Social Security number.
What To Do If The Irs ‘needs More Information’
If the Get My Payment tool gave you a payment date but you still haven’t received your money, the IRS may need more information. Check the Get My Payment tool again and if it reports “Need More Information,” this could indicate that your check has been returned because the post office was unable to deliver it, an IRS representative told CNET. Here are more details on how the tracker tool works and what the messages mean.
Reasons Why You Didnt Get A Stimulus Check
The federal government is providing stimulus checks to Americans in the coming weeks.
Getty
The harsh economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the widespread shutdowns needed to contain it are starting to set in.
More than 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment and more will. In an effort to keep financially distressed Americans afloat, Congress has responded with a $2 trillion stimulus package, known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economy Security Act.
While most individuals will get a stimulus payment provided by the CARES Act , you might be surprised if you find yourself without one. Here are five reason why you might not get a stimulus payment:
Recommended Reading: Ssi Third Stimulus Check Direct Deposit Date
What If My Direct Deposit Went To The Wrong Bank Account
Dont worry, your funds arent gone forever. The recipient bank is legally obligated to return them to the IRS.
As with a missing paper check, your best option for recouping wayward direct deposits for the first or second rounds of stimulus is to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 tax return.
For missing third stimulus deposits, contact the IRS to initiate a payment trace.
If I Am The Custodial Parent And Im Currently Receiving Or Have Ever Received Tanf Or Medicaid For My Child Will I Receive Any Money From A Tax Return Intercepted By The Federal Government From The Noncustodial Parent On My Case
-
Maybe. Federal law dictates how monies received by a state child support agencyunder the Federal Tax Refund Offset Program are distributed. In Texas, federal tax offsets are applied first to assigned arrears, or arrears owned by the state, and then to arrearages owed to the family. If there is money owed to the state in your case, the intercept stimulus payments up to the amount owed to the state will be retained by the state. The remainder of money will be sent to you, up to the amount of unassigned arrears owed to you by the noncustodial parent.The amount of the money you are entitled to receive will depend on a number of factors, including the amount of the tax refund intercepted, the amounts owed to you in your case, and the number of other child support cases in which the noncustodial parent owes child support arrears.You must also have a full-service case open with the Child Support Division to be entitled to receive any monies from an intercepted tax return.
Read Also: Who Is Getting The 4th Stimulus Check
The Irs Has Your Wrong Mailing Address
Theproblem: You moved in 2020 and the IRS doesn’t know your new address. Or, you were receiving Social Security benefits on a Direct Express card , recently closed your account and the IRS doesn’t have your correct address to reissue the payment as a paper check or EIP debit card.
Why it matters: If you got direct deposit but you need to claim additional stimulus make-up money later and you didn’t get the confirmation letter the IRS sends to recipients, you’ll have to jump through more hoops later on. Or, if you’re waiting for your stimulus check in the mail, you might have to keep waiting, if there’s an issue with forwarding. Similarly, if you closed a Direct Express account and the IRS doesn’t have your current address, it won’t know how to route your payment.
What next? If you think you’re getting a mailed payment, let the IRS and USPS know ASAP what your new mailing address is. If your check won’t be processed right away, you may have enough time. Otherwise, you may need to file for a catch-up payment later in 2021 or even a year from now during tax season in 2022.
I Get Ssi Should I Spend The Stimulus Money Within A Year What Can I Spend It On
Spend down your CARES Act EIP money before 12 months have passed since receiving the payment. You are not limited in what you can spend the money on. You can spend down on whatever you wish, including on gifts and charitable contributions. If you don’t spend it within 12 months, the Social Security Administration will count the money as a resource.
Don’t Miss: When Will I Get My Stimulus Money
How The Treasury Offset Program Works
Here’s how the Treasury Offset Program works:
If you owe more money than the payment you were going to receive, then TOP will send the entire amount to the other government agency. If you owe less, TOP will send the agency the amount you owed, and then send you the remaining balance.
Here’s an example: you were going to receive a $1,500 federal tax refund. But you are delinquent on a student loan and have $1,000 outstanding. TOP will deduct $1,000 from your tax refund and send it to the correct government agency. It will also send you a notice of its action, along with the remaining $500 that was due to you as a tax refund.
The Internal Revenue Service can help you understand more about tax refund offsets.
If I Had A Baby In 2021 Can I Get Stimulus Money For Them When I File My Taxes
If you had a baby in 2021, the IRS did not have information on your new baby when they issued the third round of stimulus payments based on your latest tax filing . Since they didnt have the information for your new baby, you can get the stimulus for your new baby in the form of a recovery rebate credit when you file your 2021 taxes.
You May Like: When Will I Get The Third Stimulus Check
Youre A College Student
One major caveat of the stimulus checks are that anyone categorized as a dependent wont qualify for payment. This will force many college students to be determined as ineligible for a stimulus check.
Who is a dependent? By law, a child under the age of 19 at the end of the year, who lives with you for more than half of the year and has not provided more than half of his or her own support for the year, qualifies as your dependent, so long as he or she doesnt file a joint return for the year. But a full time student under the age of 24 is also your dependent, even if they live mostly at college-if you provide more than half their support and they arent married and filing a joint return.
Some might think that they can get around this no-stimulus-for-dependents over 17 provision by asking their parents not to claim them on their taxes, if they havent already. No dice. As long as a student is a dependent under the legal definition in the law, they still wont qualify for a stimulus check, even if their parents dont actually claim them.
If the student falls out of the legal definition of a dependent, they should consider filing a tax return with the IRS even if they have no taxable income to be eligible for a stimulus check.
Your Check May Be Sent By Mail Even If You Have Given The Irs Your Bank Account Information
Don’t assume this won’t affect you just because you expect to receive your payment via direct deposit. According to the IRS, you may be receiving your payment by mail because “the bank rejected the deposit.” The agency says this could happen if your bank information is incorrect or if your bank account has been closed. And according to USA Today, some Americans say their bank account numbers were incorrect when they checked their payment status on the IRS websitewhich is something that also happened during the first two stimulus payments due to technical glitches from third-party tax preparers. So, no matter what, you’ll want to keep a close eye on your payment status. And for more on getting the money you’re waiting for, If You Never Got Your Last Stimulus Check, Experts Say Do This Now.
Also Check: When Will Ssdi Get 3rd Stimulus Check
Use The Irs Economic Impact Payment Status Lookup Tool
After determining that youre stimulus-eligible, use the Internal Revenue Services Get My Payment tool to check the status of your payment. Enter your Social Security number, date of birth, and address to find out the date and method of payment.
You wont see the exact amount of your third stimulus payment here, but you can click through to another screen to get that information. If you wish to take this step, youll need to provide additional details to verify your identity.
How To Get Your Stimulus Checks If You Still Haven’t Received Payment
While Congress considers whether to issue a fourth round of stimulus checks, some people haven’t received their older checks.
The first and second stimulus check amounts were for $1,200 and $600, respectively. The third was for $1,400. Here’s how to get your stimulus checks if you haven’t received them yet.
Firstly, some people haven’t received checks because not everyone qualifies for them. You aren’t eligible if your previous IRS tax filings show that you’re a single person who makes over $75,000 annually, a head of household who makes over $112,500 annually, or a married couple who jointly reports over $150,000 annually.
Some are also ineligible due to restrictions on age and dependent status. If someone claimed you as a dependent in their previous tax returns and you were 17 years old or older on January 1, 2020, then you weren’t eligible for the first two checks, according to CNBC.
The IRS and the Social Security Administration have also said that people may not have received stimulus checks because they didn’t file their 2020 taxes. They urged them to file for 2019 and 2020 even if they’re not legally required, in order to ensure that all eligible people receive their payments.
Even if you owe the IRS money, you should still receive your stimulus checks or the aforementioned 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit. The IRS won’t withhold those funds.
Recommended Reading: When Should I Expect My Third Stimulus Check
Stimulus Checks Arent Distributed At The Same Time
Stimulus checks arent distributed all at once. That means your neighbor, cousin or sister may get a stimulus check before you. If you have a bank account on file with the IRS, youre likely to get your stimulus check faster through direct deposit. However, if you dont, then it may take longer to get a paper stimulus check or debit card. Like the first and second stimulus checks, the third stimulus check will be sent in batches over time. If you get Social Security benefits, you also may not have received a stimulus check yet. Why? Until this week, the U.S. Social Security Administration didnt share contact information for 30 million Social Security recipients with the IRS, which has delayed the disbursement of their stimulus checks.
I Got A Payment Status Not Available Message
Many checking on their second stimulus check were seeing a message that said “Payment Status #2 – Not Available.” The IRS has indicated that these individuals will not receive a stimulus check by direct deposit or mail and they will have to file their 2020 tax return to claim their “Recovery Rebate Credit.” See below for instructions on claiming the rebate on your tax return.
These messages have now disappeared and will be replaced by information about the third payment.
Read Also: Still No 3rd Stimulus Check
Who Qualifies To Receive The Stimulus Payment For Minor Children When Parents Are Divorced
Divorce decrees may include a decision about who can claim the minor children as dependents on their tax returns. Parents may take turns claiming children. The parent who claims the children qualifies to receive the stimulus payment. If you believe the other parent received stimulus money in error, you may have to file a tax return to claim the full amount of the stimulus, or you might have to work this out in domestic relations court.
What If Another Stimulus Payment Is Approved
The incoming Biden administration plans to include a $2,000 stimulus payment as part of its COVID-19 relief legislation, which would be structured as a $1,400 addition to the latest round of payments. But what if you didn’t get the second round of payments? Would these be claimable as Recovery Rebate Credits, as well? Unfortunately, we don’t know the details of how an additional stimulus payment would work at this time.
The good news is that Biden has indicated that his administration plans to move quickly with its initial relief efforts, which include adding $1,400 to the latest round of stimulus payments. While we don’t have many details about how those payments could be delivered and whether you could claim them as a Recovery Rebate Credit if you don’t automatically receive them, there’ll likely be some clarification sooner rather than later.
The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
You May Like: Change Of Address For Stimulus Check
How Your Return Can Help With A $1400 Stimulus Check
Since March, the government has been deploying new batches of stimulus checks weekly.
Each of those rounds has included payments to people that were prompted by the IRS processing their 2020 tax returns.
That goes for people who do not typically file tax returns, but did so this year in order to get their $1,400 checks. Once those forms were processed, the IRS sent their payments.
In addition, people who already received their third stimulus check, and who are due more money after the IRS completed their latest return, received “plus-up” payments from the agency.
That could happen if their financial circumstances changed since their 2019 return, such as their income declining last year.
Not everyone needs to file a federal return in order to get their stimulus checks. If you receive federal benefits and do not typically file, you should get your payment automatically. However, you may want to file a return in order to submit information on eligible dependents.
In addition, if you used the IRS online non-filer tool last year, you should not have to resubmit your information.
The non-filer tool has not been reopened this year. Instead, the IRS has urged people who it does not already have on record to file tax returns, which can help the agency evaluate whether or not you may be eligible for other tax credits.
Why Did I Receive A Debit Card
The IRS issued millions of debit cards to taxpayers in lieu of second stimulus checks, but will be sending out fewer debit cards out for the third payment. The prepaid Visa debit cards, issued by MetaBank, are called Economic Impact Payment cards. Your EIP card will arrive in a white envelope with “Economic Impact Payment Card” in the return address. You’ll 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 you use the card wisely, it will be free, but there are some fees to be aware of. If you use an out-of-network ATM or a bank teller to withdraw cash, you may need to pay a fee, and if you check the balance of the debit card, at either an in-network ATM or an out-of-network ATM, you will be charged a small fee.
The IRS has announced that the vast majority of taxpayers should receive their third stimulus payment by direct deposit this time.
Also Check: How Can I Track My Second Stimulus Check
When You Use Get My Payment Youll See One Of The Following Messages:
Payment Status: Will inform you that your payment has been processed or that you are eligible for a stimulus payment but it hasnt been processed yet. If your payment has been processed, the portal will tell you when to expect it and whether it will be sent by mail or by direct deposit, but it will not tell you how much to look forward to receiving.
Payment Status Not Available: The IRS still hasnt determined whether you are eligible or not. It may be the IRS is missing information to finish the determination. The IRS recommends filing a tax return this year even if you dont normally have to.
Need More Information: This message means that your payment was returned to the IRS because the Postal Service was unable to deliver it. You will need to update your information with the agency so they can reissue the payment. There is more information on this at the end of the article.
For other questions when troubleshooting problems with your third stimulus check payment the IRS provides a helpful Get My Payment Frequently Asked Questions.
Did you know you can check the deposit date of your third Economic Impact Payment with an #IRS online tool? #COVIDreliefIRS
IRSnews