Time is running out for American taxpayers to claim a $1400 stimulus check from the Internal Revenue Service on their 2021 tax returns. The Recovery Rebate Credit remains available for taxpayers who did not receive one or more Economic Impact Payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Individuals who are yet to file their 2021 returns could still qualify for their payments — provided that they submit the details by April 15. Unclaimed money typically becomes the property of the US Treasury if taxpayers don’t file and claim their refunds within three years. The IRS had indicated in December 2024 that it would automatically issue payments to those who were yet to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit — once they filed their returns. Subsequently, special payments were issued to around a million US taxpayers who had failed to claim the recovery rebate credit in 2021.
The payments vary on the basis of individual circumstances with a maximum amount of $1400 per person. The IRS had previously estimated that more than $1 billion in refunds remained unclaimed by taxpayers — with a median credit amount of $781 for 2021. This estimate does not take the Recovery Rebate Credit or other credits into account.
“The IRS reminds taxpayers who have not yet filed their 2021 tax returns that they may be eligible for a refund if they file and claim the Recovery Rebate Credit by the April 15, 2025, 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,” it said in December last year.