The Internal Revenue Service is issuing payments to eligible people who did not claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns.
The Recovery Rebate Credit was a credit on the 2021 tax return that could be claimed by individuals who, for whatever reason, did not receive from the IRS their full 2021 Economic Impact Payment (EIP), also known as the third stimulus payment. The maximum payment was $1,400 per individual.
The payments will go out automatically in December 2024 and should arrive in most cases by late January 2025. Taxpayers will also receive a separate letter notifying them of the payment. Payments will be sent to the bank account on the taxpayer’s 2023 tax return or to their address of record. If the taxpayer has since closed the bank account, the bank will reject the payment and the payment will be sent by check to the address of record.
Most taxpayers eligible for the 2021 EIP have already received it. These payments for the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit are only going to taxpayers who have still not received their 2021 EIP because they were eligible for it, but did not receive it when those payments were initially issued, and also failed to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax return.
Taxpayers who didn’t file 2021 tax returns will not receive these payments, as the IRS does not know if they are eligible. They might be, but they face an April 15, 2025, deadline to file their returns to claim any refund they might be owed, including any refund created by claiming the Recovery Rebate Credit. Refunds cannot be claimed more than three years after the due date of a return.
To calculate the amount of Recovery Rebate Credit they may be eligible for, taxpayers may access their online IRS account to determine the amount they received for their 2021 EIP.