As Tax Season Continues, IRS Issues Tip for Next Year

The IRS is already issuing a tip for next year’s taxes, even as people continue to grapple with complicated 2020 taxes ahead of the extended May 17 deadline. 

Over the past year, qualified individuals received three stimulus checks, and the IRS has issued notices to recipients for each one. Two of them, Notices 1444 and 1444-B, were sent out in 2020, and should be kept with tax year 2020 records. If you received a Notice 1444-A for 2020, you may be eligible for a stimulus payment but need to file a return to claim it.

But the last stimulus check, approved last month as part of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, would fall under the 2021 tax year and have to be reported next year. So if you received the third stimulus payment earlier this year, the IRS is sending a Notice-1444-C to acknowledge that payment. You need to keep that letter with tax year 2021 records because you will need it next year when you file your tax return. The IRS said it cannot issue replacement notices for this or any other stimulus checks. 

If taxpayers don't have their notices, they can create an online account to view their payments.

So far, the IRS said it has distributed approximately 163 million of these third stimulus checks, worth about $384 billion, including some “plus-up” payments. Plus-up payments are supplemental payments for individuals who earlier this year received payments based on their 2019 tax returns but are eligible for a new or larger payment based on their recently processed 2020 tax returns.