Some Americans might still be eligible for a pandemic-era stimulus payment, but only for a few more weeks.
That's according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which says some 1.1 million people have an estimated $1 billion in unclaimed refunds for tax year 2021. They must file their tax returns by April 15 to claim them.
"Under the law, taxpayers usually have three years to file and claim their tax refunds," the agency said in a notice last week. "If they don't file within three years, the money becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury."
That three-year window is standard. But there is extra incentive for people to pay attention this year: the government's pandemic relief payments.
The agency says that while most people who were eligible for stimulus checks — officially called Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) — in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic have received them, not everyone did.
That means people who didn't file taxes for 2021 — which would have been done in the winter or spring of 2022 — may have reason to do so now.
Who is eligible?
Three rounds of EIPs totaling $814 billion went to households impacted by the pandemic between March 2020 and March 2021.
Eligible individuals received up to $1,200 per filer and up to $500 per child in March 2020 through the CARES Act, $600 per filer and child in December 2020 through the Consolidated Appropriations Act and $1,400 per filer and child in March 2021 through the American Rescue Plan Act.
The IRS says most taxpayers who were eligible for EIPs have already received either the stimulus payment or a Recovery Rebate Credit. That's a refundable credit for eligible taxpayers who did not receive one or more EIPs — or in this case, the full amount of the March 2021 payment — during the pandemic.
But the agency says it discovered in December that some 1 million taxpayers who were eligible for a Recovery Rebate Credit did not claim it on their 2021 tax returns, either leaving the data field blank or mistakenly filling it out as $0.
It said at the time that it would fix that by sending a notification letter and a payment of up to $1,400 to eligible individuals — either through direct deposit or a check mailed to their 2023 address on file — in the weeks ahead, to arrive by late January.
Separately, it said there may also be implications for people who didn't file in 2021 (whether because they were unemployed or for other reasons). It turns out some of those people might be eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit as well, provided they file their 2021 return by the April 15 deadline.
"Eligible taxpayers who did not file must file a tax return to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit, even if their income from a job, business or other source was minimal or non-existent," the agency said.
The agency says taxpayers can view the amount of their EIP through their IRS online account (under the "Tax Records" page), to calculate their Recovery Rebate Credit.
The IRS says "start now"
In its reminder last week, the IRS urged people to start gathering the past information they need to file their 2021 tax return "to make sure they have enough time to file before the April deadline," and offered suggestions for ways to do that. The fastest and easiest method, it says, is to create or log in to an IRS individual online account.
Taxpayers can also request copies of key documents from their employer or bank, or ask the IRS to mail a tax return or tax account transcript to them directly. They can also file a form 4506-T with the IRS to request a wage and income transcript, but the IRS warns that those written requests can take several weeks to fulfill and should be a last resort.
It also notes that people's 2021 refunds may be withheld if they have not yet filed tax returns for 2022 and 2023. Plus, it says, any refund amount for 2021 will be applied to amounts owed to the IRS, a state tax agency or possibly past federal debts such as child support or student loans.
People can check the status of their refund online — the IRS says status updates should appear around 24 hours after electronically filing a current year return, three-four days after electronically filing a prior year return and four weeks after filing a paper return. Learn more about that process here.
An especially turbulent tax season
Cuts to the IRS' workforce and funding are expected to make it harder for taxpayers to get answers to their questions this tax season, as NPR has reported.
More than 6,000 IRS positions were cut in late February as part of the Trump administration's efforts to downsize the federal government, spearheaded by the informal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Many of those were probationary employees who were relatively new to the job. After years of being understaffed and underfunded, the IRS got a boost from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which provided billions of dollars over a decade to modernize technology and hire staff, including thousands of customer service phone operators.
However, Congress has since clawed money back from the IRS, and staffing cuts are expected to continue. The Washington Post, citing a document, reported Tuesday that the Trump administration is poised to cut more than 20% of the staff at the agency's Taxpayer Advocate Service, which operates as an internal watchdog.
The IRS encourages people who need help to always check its online resources before calling the agency directly.
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