There’s still time to claim a third stimulus check payment worth up to $1,400 per person.
Eligible taxpayers who didn’t receive the payment are allowed to claim a tax credit on their 2021 federal tax return by the April 18 deadline.
The vast majority of the third stimulus check payments were automatically delivered to taxpayers’ bank accounts or via a check in the mail last spring. The payments were authorized by the American Rescue Plan in March 2021 and were meant to help people struggling financially because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the payments were calculated the previous year based on the most recent federal tax return on file at the time. If a taxpayer’s income or family size changes in 2021, the individual may be eligible for more money.
Other people may have missed out on the stimulus check payment altogether. Those with incomes so low they don’t have to file taxes may have never received their payment because the Internal Revenue Service did not have their information.
Who Is Eligible For The Stimulus Check?
Taxpayers who earned less money in 2021 than the previous year may be eligible for more money than they initially received from the third round of stimulus payments.
Those include single filers who had incomes above $80,000 in 2020 but less than this amount in 2021; married couples who filed a joint return and had incomes above $160,000 in 2020 but less than this amount in 2021; and head of household filers who had incomes above $120,000 in 2020 but less than this amount in 2021, according to the IRS.
Individuals and families who added a child in 2021 — through birth, adoption, or foster care — could be eligible for additional money. Families that added another kind of dependent, such as an aging parent or grandchild, may also be eligible.
