The IRS has a message to people who think they might have missed out on a stimulus check or a tax refund for the 2021 tax year: Today’s the last day to claim the money.
The tax agency in December sent $2.4 billion in “special payments” to about 1 million taxpayers. In doing so, part of their goal was to make sure that people who missed out on federal stimulus payments issued during the pandemic would finally get their money.
But there may still people who have fallen through the cracks, missing out on the stimulus payments or their tax refunds for 2021, the IRS said earlier this month. That could have occurred in cases where someone didn’t file a tax return for that year, which means they would need to file a 2021 tax return before midnight tonight, according to the agency’s guidelines.
The IRS estimates that about 1.1 million people didn’t file their 2021 tax returns, and may be eligible for the stimulus check, tax refund or both.
The Recovery Rebate Credit is aimed at taxpayers who didn’t get all or some of the stimulus checks when they were issued during the pandemic. Lawmakers authorized three stimulus payments, with two sent in 2020 and a third in 2021.
The maximum amount is $1,400 per person, including all qualifying dependents claimed on a tax return. That means a single person with no dependents could qualify for a maximum of $1,400, and joint filers with two dependent children could qualify for as much as $5,600, according to the IRS.
The IRS says that most people who were eligible for the stimulus payments have already received them — either in 2020, 2021 or in December 2024 when the agency started sending checks to people who hadn’t claimed the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 returns.
But individuals who didn’t file a 2021 tax return might still be eligible for the money, the IRS said.
The tax agency says the fastest way for people who didn’t file their 2021 taxes but believe they might qualify for the payment is to e-file their tax returns. The deadline to file your 2021 tax return is midnight on April 15.
Some people who didn’t file their taxes in 2021 may also qualify for refunds, with the IRS estimating that about $1 billion in refunds remains unclaimed by individuals who failed to file their 2021 tax forms by April 15, 2022.
“There is no penalty for failure to file if a refund is due. However, a return claiming a refund must be filed within three years of its due date for a refund to be allowed,” the IRS noted, meaning that the last day to claim the money is April 15, 2025.
