It’s Not Too Late to Claim a $1,400 Stimulus Check From the IRS

While Covid-era tax incentives have largely expired, more than a million Americans are still eligible for stimulus checks, according to the IRS.

The agency sent out a reminder that you may still be eligible to receive the Recovery Rebate Credit, worth up to $1,400, but only if you didn’t file a federal return in 2021.

The IRS is automatically sending payments to eligible taxpayers, but the fun stops on April 15, 2025, the deadline to get any credits or refunds from 2021.

Payments are being sent via paper check or deposited using banking information listed on 2023 tax returns.

These funds were the last round of stimulus checks issued during the pandemic. The specific amount depends on your adjusted gross income (AGI) and it eventually phases out at higher income brackets.

Single filers qualify for the full $1,400 if their AGI in 2021 was no more than $75,000, but the credit fully phases out at $80,000.

Married couples filing jointly qualify for $2,800 if their combined AGI in 2021 was $150,000 or less, but the credit phases out completely at an income of $160,000.

Dependents could earn $1,400 in 2021, regardless of their age, but the same phaseout limits applied.

The IRS typically only allows you to file a refund or credit within three years, so Tax Day 2025 is the last chance to get a payment if you’re owed one. That includes people who were eligible for the credit but left the field blank and eligible people who haven’t filed a tax return yet.

According to the IRS, more than 1.1 million Americans have unclaimed refunds from tax year 2021, totaling over $1 billion in refunds.

These are mostly taxpayers who haven’t filed their Form 1040s for that year, with the deadline less than a month away.

Not counting the Recovery Rebate Credit, the median refund amount for non-filers from 2021 is about $781. Many lower- and moderate-income workers could be missing out on the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), as well, which was worth as much as $6,728 for qualifying families.

Create an IRS account: Log in to the Individual Online Account at IRS.gov and you should be able to access tax account information, wage and income statements, verification of non-filing letters and transcripts of past returns.

Request copies: If you don’t have Forms W-2, 1098, 1099 or 5498 for 2021, your then-employer is expected to provide it, as are bank and other payers.

Get a transcript by mail:  You can get a return or transcript mailed to you by going to the Get Transcript by Mail page on IRS.gov or calling the automated line at 800-908-9946. But time is tight so this might not be a practical approach.

Request a wage and income transcript: To get a wage and income transcript, you can file Form 4506-T , which shows details from returns received by the IRS, such as Forms W-2, 1099, 1098, Form 5498 and IRA contribution information. You should be able to use that data to complete your 2021 return.

As with mail transcripts, the service cautions, written requests can take “several weeks” and filers are “encouraged to try other options first.”

Not counting the stimulus checks, the IRS has estimated how many people in each state may be entitled to a refund, how much the median refund could be and what the total is being returned in each state.

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