Stimulus Payments and Your Taxes

Did you get a payment back in the late spring when the first round of ‘stimulus’ payments went out? How about the latest one?  Is my payment taxable?

The IRS sent out the payments as a check, as a debit card, or as a direct deposit if they had your bank information.

Did you get Notice 1444 (which shows the amount of money they sent you), but you didn’t know you were supposed to keep it? There is a solution to that.

Didn’t get the payment or you are not sure if you got one? We can resolve that. The best way to do that is to go to IRS website (more on that below).

Please be aware that the official name of the payment is the Economic Recovery Payment, not stimulus payment.

Once at the IRS website (Click on this link: IRS Recovery Payment), click on the blue box that says: Get My Payment. Then follow the prompts.

A few items to keep in mind while on the IRS website:
1. Enter the Social Security Number of the primary taxpayer, the one that shows on the first line of the tax return.
2. Make sure you enter the full year of birth. For example, enter 1978 not 78.
3. If you moved since you filed your 2019 taxes and didn’t notify the IRS, then use that old address, otherwise use your current address.

The next screen should show when a payment was scheduled to be made and how – i.e by check, direct deposit, or debit card. If no payment was made you will see “Not Available” show up.
That screen, however, does not show the dollar amount you received. If you don’t have Notice 1444 you will need to go back to your bank deposits and check to see how much you received. It’s a little easier if you had direct deposit rather than a check, especially if you just cashed the check and did not deposit it into a bank account.

Again, we can figure that out, by going back to 2018 tax returns (if you filed one).

Never got a stimulus payment? No problem. You can claim it on your 2020 tax return.

Got a payment but afraid it’s taxable?  No, not taxable income.

What if you got more than you should have? Again, not a problem, you don’t have to pay it back.