If you haven’t filed your tax returns for 2020, you can determine how much you ought to have received from the initial stimulus check. With the deadline looming on May 17, it is high time you gather your 1099 and W-2 forms. And then there are the 1444 notices (both A and B) sent by the IRS. This is to verify the amount you have received in the first two stimulus checks.
As both the first and second stimulus payments were given out in 2020, the amount you received from both will be necessary to determine your returns. And if you haven’t received the full amount, the tax return deadline is your last opportunity to recover it.
The First Stimulus Check Sent By The IRS
The first check was sent under the CARES Act, signed on March 27 last year. It gave up to $1,200 to each citizen and an additional $500 for qualifying dependents. The payments mostly arrived in the middle of April 2020 as direct deposit or paper checks and debit cards in the mail.
If you do not have Notice 1444 in your possession, you can look up the amount in your passbook. Or you could take the help of an online calculator to arrive at the amount you were owed. You can log into your account on the IRS official website to claim your money.
Accounting For The Second Stimulus Payment
The second stimulus check was sent out in December 2020. You can determine the amount you were owed in the same way. And if you find that you are owed any amount from the previous two stimulus payment, you need to file a Recovery Rebate Credit along with your tax returns for 2020.
You will need to know your Adjusted Gross Income for either 2018 and 2019 to arrive at the amount you received, or should have, in the first and second stimulus checks. The figures will be there in line 7 of the 1040 tax for 2018, and in line 8b in 2019.
Each child dependent below the age of 17 contributed $500 each, and that figure will be necessary to arrive at the stimulus amount you have received.
US citizens with an AGI below $99,000 qualified for the first stimulus check. The figure was $146,500 if you filed as the head of a household, and $198,000 if you filed jointly.
