- Even though no one is getting a new stimulus check anytime soon, it’s easy to forget that millions of people even at this late date in 2020 are still waiting on the first stimulus check they’re owed.
- It’s more than likely going to be the only stimulus check they get this year, based on continued stalemate among Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
- Here are key dates to be aware of to make sure you got all the stimulus check money you’re owed as soon as possible if you haven’t already.
One thing it’s easy to overlook — given the fact that Democrats in the House of Representatives are about to try again on a new stimulus proposal (and the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, has come up with a pretty radical new stimulus check proposal of his own) — is that millions of Americans are still waiting on their first stimulus check. Their first and most likely only stimulus check this year, which is pretty incredible when you think about it — so much time has passed since the IRS first started mailing the checks out, and they were meant to help people deal with the financial pain associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic that started, oh, some seven months ago now.
Congress funded that round of stimulus checks all the way back at the end of March, but as we’ve previously noted, millions of Americans still haven’t gotten that stimulus check for a variety of reasons. As many as 8.7 million people, to be more specific, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. If this includes you, then you need to circle two important upcoming dates on the calendar if you want to make sure you receive the money you’re owed this year.
The first date that’s coming up is September 30. That’s the deadline by which you need to have given information to the IRS on any dependent children in your household because the $2.2 trillion CARES Act that made the stimulus checks possible provides an extra $500 supplemental payment along with your stimulus check for every qualifying child. Head over to the IRS’s “Non-Filers” tool to input that information.
Another date to be aware of is October 15. This is for people who don’t normally file a tax return, perhaps because their annual income is to low for them to be required to do so. These people need to also use the IRS’s “Non-Filers” tool, and the October 15 deadline is for making sure the IRS has the information it needs on them to send out a check.
A few important additional details to note:
That “non-filers” tool is meant for individual taxpayers who make less than $12,200 and couples who earn less than $24,400 per year. And even if individuals have earned less than that — or even nothing at all — they’re still eligible to receive a stimulus check.
What happens if you miss the September 30 deadline? The IRS has said you’ll get a credit when you file your tax return in 2021, and the money will be sent out then the same way it was this year — either through a paper check or direct deposit.
Finally, for those of you who already got your stimulus check but were missing the extra dependent $500 payment, be aware that the IRS started mailing out those “catch-up” payments, as it calls them, in early August (if you used the non-filers tool before May 17).
