Residents of Long Island who did not submit their 2021 tax returns may qualify for significant financial benefits if they did not receive a third COVID stimulus check and neglected to file for a related tax credit.
According to the IRS, individuals have until April 15 to file their 2021 returns to become eligible for missed payments via the Recovery Rebate Credit, which serves to refund those who did not receive their complete stimulus payment.
“Typically, taxpayers have three years to file and claim their tax refunds,” the IRS noted in a statement earlier this month. “If they fail to file within that timeframe, the funds revert to the U.S. Treasury.”
In December, the IRS projected that around 1 million taxpayers who had not received their third COVID stimulus payment were owed approximately $2.4 billion.
The agency began issuing automatic payments at that time to individuals and families who had filed their 2021 tax returns without claiming the Recovery Rebate Credit, with those payments expected to arrive by late January.
Households that filed their 2021 tax returns but did not claim the credit are not required to take any additional steps, as the IRS stated that payments would be issued to the bank account listed on a taxpayer’s 2023 tax return or to the registered address if no bank account information was provided.
Lynne Fuentes, managing partner at Fuentes & Angel CPAs in Jericho, mentioned that she has been inquiring this year with clients about whether they received their stimulus checks and filed their 2021 tax returns, but has yet to identify anyone eligible because her clients typically submit their returns annually.
Fuentes encourages clients to check on their elderly parents, who might be more likely to have missed out on these benefits.
This situation is particularly relevant for individuals with very low incomes, including households that rely solely on Social Security benefits, as they may not be obligated to file tax returns.
“They may not have earned enough income that requires them to file,” Fuentes explained. “As a result, they may be unaware that they are entitled to the rebate.”
The number of tax filers still able to claim the credit is likely quite limited, especially considering the extensive actions the federal government took to distribute stimulus payments, including automatically enrolling Social Security recipients, according to Michael Durant, a certified public accountant and board member of the New York State Society of CPAs.
Durant, a Bronx-based CPA serving families throughout the tri-state area, advises individuals to verify the amount they received in stimulus checks, officially known as Economic Impact Payments, on their online IRS accounts before claiming the credit.
In 2021, the third round of stimulus payments amounted to $1,400 per income tax filer and $1,400 per child as part of the American Rescue Plan Act.
Single taxpayers qualified for the complete $1,400 if their income did not exceed $75,000, with partial eligibility for incomes below $80,000.
Married couples filing jointly were eligible for up to $2,800 if their combined income was $150,000 or less, while couples earning up to $160,000 received a partial payment.
The federal government disbursed $814 billion in stimulus payments to households during 2020 and 2021 over three rounds of payments in March 2020, December 2020, and March 2021, according to federal data.
