This article is for the first two Stimulus checks (EIP #1 and #2). For the $1,400 third stimulus check (EIP #3), please see the American Rescue Plan Act.

The new Covid-Relief bill includes a second round of Economic Impact Payments (EIP), AKA Stimulus Checks.

You can check the status of your payment (both EIP #1 and EIP #2) using the ‘Get My Payment‘ tool from the IRS.

How Much Money?

$600 per adult and $600 per qualifying child.

This is in addition to the $1,200 per adult and $500 per child from EIP #1.

Who is Eligible?

All US citizens (or non-citizens who are eligible to work in the USA), including those who live abroad, are eligible for EIP.

Someone 17 or over who can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return, is not eligible.

Income Eligibility

Your income eligibility is based on your 2019 tax return (unlike the first round which was based on either your 2018 or 2019 tax return).

You receive the full amount ($600 per adult and $600 per qualifying child) if your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) is under a certain amount:

• Single: $75,000
• Head of Household: $112,500
• Married Filing Jointly: $150,000

If you earned more AGI than above, your stimulus payment starts phasing out at a rate of 5% ($0.05 for every $1 earned above $75k/$112.5k/$150k).

Depending on your total eligible amount, your payment would phase out at different AGI levels. For example, someone who is ‘married filing jointly’ with no children would phase out completely at $174,000, whereas ‘married filing jointly’ with two children would phase out at $198,000.

Use this calculator to help you see how much money you should be receiving.

Getting the Payment

If you filed your 2019 taxes, the funds should arrive automatically, either by check in the mail or via direct deposit. The IRS started sending money on December 29, 2020 and the funds are likely already in your account (if they have your bank account details).

If you received the full amount, great :). If not, read on…

Check on the status of your payment with the IRS’s ‘Get My Payment‘ tool. It will show you the status of both EIP #1 as well as EIP #2.

• If it says that your payment was scheduled to be deposited in a bank, then check your bank account.
• If it says that you will be receiving a check in the mail, then you should hopefully get it that way. (If the IRS doesn’t have your bank account details, they send a check).
• If it says “Status – Not Available”, then you will get the EIP once your complete the Recovery Rebate Credit – more on that below.

The IRS payment deadline is January 15, 2021. If the payment is not sent by January 15th, you will need to claim the stimulus checks as a refund on your 2020 tax return.

So basically if you didn’t get your new stimulus payments, or for that matter, if you didn’t receive the first round of $1,200 payments, all is not lost! You can claim both rounds of EIP when filing your 2020 tax return.

Change of Circumstance in 2020

Although the EIP payments were calculated based on 2019 taxes (or 2018/2019 taxes for EIP #1), they are really considered a credit on the 2020 taxes. This is called the Recovery Rebate Credit.

Therefore, before you file your 2020 taxes, you can calculate how much EIP #1 ($1200/$500) and EIP #2 ($600/$600) you are eligible for based on your 2020 tax return. Then:

Eligible for more = Get more

• If you are eligible for more based on the 2020 return, you will get the difference as a tax refund.
• For example, if based on 2019 your income was too high and in 2020 your income was lower.
• Another example, if you had a baby during 2020, you get the $600 from EIP #2 and the $500 from EIP #1.

Eligible for less = You don’t owe anything

• If based on your 2020 return you are eligible for less, then you don’t have to pay anything back.
• For example, you earned too much in 2020 or one of your children turned 17 in 2020.

Eligible for the same = You don’t get and you don’t owe

• If based on your 2020 return you are eligible for the same as what you already received based on your 2018-2019 return, then you don’t get anything and you don’t owe anything.
• For example, if you had a baby in 2020, thus making you eligible for an additional $1,100 ($600 + $500) but you also had a child turn 17 during 2020, thus making you eligible for $1,100 less, the two will likely zero each other out.

To recap: If the EIP (both #1 and #2) you received is equal or more to what you would be eligible for based on your 2020 “situation”, then you don’t need to complete the Recovery Rebate Credit information on your 2020 taxes. If you should be getting (based on your 2020 “situation”) more than you received in either EIP # or EIP #2,  including if you missed one of the payments, then complete the Recovery Rebate on your 2020 tax return in order to get your EIP.

For more details, read ‘Stimulus Deadline and Potential Eligibility Change‘

Changes Between EIP #1 and EIP #2

• EIP #1 was $1200 per adult and $500 per qualifying child. EIP #2 is $600 per adult and $600 per child.
• EIP #1 looked at either 2018 or 2019 tax returns to ensure income eligibility. EIP #2 only looks at 2019. So if you didn’t file yet your 2019, you will get the payment once you file your 2020 taxes
• One spouse without a social? In EIP #1, that caused the other spouse to lose out on the Stimulus payments. In the new Covid-Relief Bill, that changed. Now, the spouse (and children) are eligible, even if the other spouse doesn’t have a social. This applies both to EIP #2 and to EIP #1 (when 2020 taxes are filed).

Read more from the IRS

• Q&A from the IRS
• General information about the EIP
• Draft 1040 (tax return) for 2020 – see page 59

Related Articles

• Stimulus Overview
• Stimulus Deadline and Potential Eligibility Change