Expired: U.S. Stimulus Payments: How can I receive the COVID-19 stimulus check? [Updated 2021.3: a new round of $1,400 payments and relief]

[Updated 2021.3] The third round of stimulus payments is coming, at $1,400 per person. The eligibility requirements are fairly similar to the previous rounds, so you can use those as a rough comparison. The main differences are listed below:

• Every eligible person can receive it, and all dependents qualify for $1,400, with no age requirement
• Eligibility is based on your 2020 tax return (if you have already filed) or your 2019 tax return
• To see exactly how much you may receive, just use the calculator below

In addition, there are various benefits related to Unemployment, Food Stamps, and Child Credits. If you qualify, it may be worth looking into them as well (HT. DOC).

• child credit: $3,600 in payments per child age 5 and younger, and $3,000 per child age 6 through 17 (this is essentially an increase in the child credit amount)
• childcare expense: tax credit will max out at $4,000 and at 50% of eligible childcare expenses. This is way oversimplified version – read up on this more
• Food Stamps: The 15% increase in food stamps will continue through September (previously it was set to expire after June) .
• $300 Federal Unemployment Benefit

Background

First Round

As everyone knows, many Americans do not like to save much money and live paycheck to paycheck. Once life takes an unexpected turn, their finances can fall apart very quickly. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many states began adopting shelter-at-home measures, requiring most workers in non-essential industries to stop going to work. Aside from necessary activities, people were also generally not supposed to go out. As a result, many Americans lost their source of income.

The two parties had been negotiating emergency relief measures for several days, and today (late night on March 25), the Senate finally passed the bill, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. What everyone cares most about is the $1,200 cash payment. There have been all kinds of rumors online saying eligibility is based on the 2018/2019 tax year. Is that actually correct? Below, we break it down for you.

Please note that this article is based on H.R. 748.

Today (03/27), the bill has passed the House, and Trump has signed it into law, so it is now officially in effect. If you only became an RA in 2019 and want to receive the payment this year, you may want to consider filing your taxes as soon as possible. If you were an RA in 2018, but will be an NRA in 2019, 2020, and afterward, you may want to delay filing this year. If you only became an RA in 2020, you will not be able to receive this money until you file your tax return next year. If you are an RA who has never filed taxes before, this year would also be a good time to file as soon as possible. For more interpretation, please refer to the discussion below.

Second Round

[Updated 2020.12] The new pandemic relief policy has been passed. This time, each person can receive $600, and the eligibility requirements are basically the same as the earlier $1,200 payment. The unemployment benefit is $300. You can refer to the previous round’s requirements to see whether you qualify.

• Bill text

Third Round

[Updated 2021.3] The third round of stimulus payments is coming, at $1,400 per person. The eligibility requirements are fairly similar to the previous rounds, so you can use those as a rough comparison. The main differences are listed below:

• Every eligible person can receive it, and all dependents qualify for $1,400, with no age requirement
• Eligibility is based on your 2020 tax return (if you have already filed) or your 2019 tax return
• To see exactly how much you may receive, just use the calculator

In addition, there are various benefits related to Unemployment, Food Stamps, and Child Credits. If you qualify, it may be worth looking into them as well (HT. DOC).

• child credit: $3,600 in payments per child age 5 and younger, and $3,000 per child age 6 through 17 (this is essentially an increase in the child credit amount)
• childcare expense: tax credit will max out at $4,000 and at 50% of eligible childcare expenses. This is way oversimplified version – read up on this more
• Food Stamps: The 15% increase in food stamps will continue through September (previously it was set to expire after June) .
• $300 Federal Unemployment Benefit

Eligibility Requirements

Here we use the first round of stimulus payments as the example for explanation; you can apply the same logic to the other rounds.

Status Requirements

To receive this relief payment, the following restrictions apply (see Sec. 6428(c) and (d)):

• The taxpayer cannot be a Non-Resident Alien;
• The taxpayer cannot be claimed as a dependent by someone else; and
• The taxpayer also cannot be a trust or estate.

Income Limits and Benefit Amount

There are also certain limits based on Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) (this item appears on your tax return). If your income is less than or equal to the thresholds below, you can receive the full $1,200 payment per person:

• For single filers, or married filing separately and not head of household: $75,000;
• For married filing jointly, combined income for both spouses: $150,000;
• For head of household: $112,500

If your AGI exceeds the threshold, your payment is reduced by 5% of the amount over the threshold.

In addition, you can receive an extra $500 for each qualifying child.

Example 1: Income Below the Threshold

If you are single and your income is below $75,000, you can receive $1,200.

If you are married filing jointly and your income is below $150,000, you can receive $2,400.

Example 2: Income Above the Threshold, Phaseout Begins

If you are single and your income is $85,000, then you can receive 1,200- (85,000-75,000) *5%=$700.

If you are married filing jointly and your combined income is $170,000, then you can receive 2,400- (170,000-150,000) *5%=$1,400

Example 3: Income Above the Full Phaseout Limit

If your income is above $99,000 as a single filer, or above $198,000 for married filing jointly, then you will not receive anything.

Which Tax Year Is Used to Determine Eligibility?

Now for the important question: which year is used to determine the qualifications above, including residency status and income limits?

IRS will look at your 2019 tax return (or your 2018 return if you do not have a 2019 return). If you qualify (that is, you are a Resident alien), they will calculate the payment based on the formula and send you money right away. When you file taxes next year, it will be recalculated again based on your 2020 situation. You may get more back, but you will not have to repay any shortfall. The reasoning is as follows.

First, this money is a tax credit, and it belongs to the 2020 tax year (see Sec. 6428). The status requirement also applies to 2020.

..., there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by subtitle A for the first taxable year beginning in 2020 ...

Why do we say “you may get extra money, but you won’t have to pay back any excess”? Because when you file your taxes next year, the amount of this tax credit must be reduced by the advance payment issued this year — but the result is “not below zero.” In other words, if you receive more credit this year than you would otherwise qualify for next year, you do not have to pay it back. But if, under the 2020 calculation, you should receive more credit than under the 2019 calculation, you can still claim the difference when you file next year.

The amount of credit which would (but for this paragraph) be allowable under this section shall be reduced (but not below zero) by the aggregate refunds and credits made or allowed to the taxpayer under subsection (f) .

Examples

Here we use the first round of stimulus payments as an example. The same logic applies to other cases as well.

Students and visiting scholars

If you have always been on F1 student status, then as long as your first entry to the United States in F1 status was in 2015 or earlier, you are a Resident alien in 2020 and therefore eligible for the payment. If you are a J1 visiting scholar, then as long as your first entry to the United States in J1 status was in 2018 or earlier, you are eligible as well.

Note: We believe that if you changed to H1B in 2020 and elected dual-status filing through the First Year Election, you should also qualify, because the definition of Resident Alien in 26 USC 7701 includes the First Year Election.

We came up with several possible scenarios below so you can see which one applies to you.

Example 1: Students and visiting scholars

• F1 student who came to the United States in 2016 or later
• J1 scholar who came to the United States in 2019 or later

Because you are not a Resident alien, you cannot receive this payment, and you do not need to do anything.

Example 2: Students and visiting scholars

• F1 student who came to the United States in 2015 and is a Resident alien in 2020
• J1 scholar who came to the United States in 2018 and is a Resident alien in 2020

Because you were not a Resident alien in 2019, you will not receive the money this year. However, you can get $1,200 when you file your 2020 tax return next year, assuming your 2020 income is below the threshold.

Example 3: Students and visiting scholars

• F1 student who came to the United States in 2014 or earlier and was a Resident alien in both 2019 and 2020
• J1 scholar who came to the United States in 2017 or earlier and was a Resident alien in both 2019 and 2020

If you filed your 2019 tax return this year, you would receive the money this year because you were a Resident alien in 2019.

Example 4: Student returned home

• F1 student who came to the United States in 2014, was a Resident alien in 2019, and returned home at the end of 2019 without coming back to the United States afterward.

If you filed taxes this year, the IRS knows you were a Resident alien in 2019 and will send you $1,200. They also will not ask for it back later.

Example 5: Did not file taxes

• Never filed a tax return before, but you are a Resident alien in 2020

You will not automatically receive the payment, but you can claim the credit and get $1,200 when you file your 2020 taxes in 2021.

Example 6: Green card holder

• After 2019, you hold a U.S. green card and work in China. In 2020, you filed your 2019 tax return as a Resident alien.

You can receive $1,200, assuming your income is within the limit, and you will not have to repay it when filing taxes in 2021.

Example 7: Became RA in 2020

In addition, if you cannot get the $1,200 right now because of your status, but you are an RA in 2020, then according to IRS guidance, you can only receive the money by filing Form 1040 for 2020.

If you are considered a U.S. resident alien for 2020 but not for 2019, you can claim the Payment when you file Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR with the IRS for tax year 2020.

If you are considered a U.S. resident alien for 2019 but not for 2020, you won’t be required to repay the Payment we paid in 2020 based on your Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR for tax year 2019.

Useful tools

How to check your status

If you qualify and already filed your taxes, but previously did not receive a direct deposit or refund check, the IRS may be about to mail you a check. You can check again on the IRS website.

• Status check link: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment
• If your address has changed, the IRS cannot change the mailing address once the check has been sent, but USPS may be able to forward it for you. See this article for reference: USPS mail forwarding service overview

Non-filer tool

If you do not need to file a tax return — for example, your income is 0 or below the filing threshold — but you otherwise meet the status requirements for this payment, you can use the IRS non-filer tool directly and enter your personal information. Previously, only citizens and green card holders could use it. Now the IRS has updated the rules so that some RAs can use it too, as long as you are a qualifying RA for the payment — for example, being an RA in 2019 would qualify, but someone who only became an RA in 2020 would not.

• Non-filer link

After you complete it, the system automatically generates a Form 1040 for you to file. In essence, it is just an e-file submission.

How this affects your taxes

Here we use the first round of stimulus payments as an example. The same logic applies to other cases as well.

Tax filing tips to maximize your payment

• If you are an RA in 2020 and your spouse is an NRA, then filing jointly can get you $2,400. If you file separately, only you can get $1,200.
• If you did not receive the payment based on 2019, but you will be in the United States for 183 days in 2020 and obtain Resident alien status, then you can still get the $1,200.
• If your 2018 income was higher than your 2019 income, file your 2019 taxes as soon as possible. Conversely, delay filing your 2019 return. Similarly, if you were an RA in 2018 but not an RA in 2019, delaying may also help.

2019 tax year (filed in 2020)

First, the filing and payment deadline for the 2019 tax year has been extended to July 15. This stimulus payment is treated as part of 2020 and is not tied to your 2019 income itself, so there is no need to amend your tax return. Therefore, whether or not you have already completed your 2019 tax filing, there is no need to worry.

If you have not yet filed, and 2019 was your first year as a Resident alien (while 2018 was NRA, which is common among F1 and J1 holders), you should file as soon as possible. That way, the IRS can use your 2019 filing status to determine that you qualify for the payment. If you do not file, then based on your 2018 NRA status, you cannot receive the stimulus this year and can only get the $1,200 in 2021 when filing your 2020 taxes by claiming it as a tax credit.

In addition, if you did not file a 2018 return or if your income was higher in 2018 than in 2019, then you should file your 2019 tax return as soon as possible so you can receive the payment or a larger payment. On the other hand, if your 2019 income was higher than your 2018 income, then you may want to delay filing as much as possible, as long as you still file by July 15. This is because the stimulus amount is based on your 2018 or 2019 income (AGI).

• 2019 tax filing guide

2020 tax year (filed in 2021)

If you were an NRA in both 2019 and 2020, then this stimulus payment obviously does not apply to you, and you should simply file as a normal NRA. If you were an RA in 2019 (or 2018) and received this payment, then one important thing to note is that when you file taxes in 2021, you will need to recalculate the stimulus amount you were entitled to based on your 2020 tax residency status and income. If the IRS paid you too much, you do not need to pay it back; if you received too little, you can claim the difference. The reason is that when the payment was issued in 2020, the amount was estimated based on 2019 information.

This stimulus payment is not taxable, regardless of the amount.

If You Shouldn’t Have Received It: How to Return the Money

We’ll use the first round of stimulus payments as the example here; the same logic applies to the others.

How to Return It

The IRS published official guidance on how to return a stimulus payment (thanks to reader Edward). Here is a simple translation of the process, but we strongly recommend reading the original IRS guidance (the return instructions are in Q41).

• If you received a Trump check and have not deposited it: Write “void” on the back, then include a note explaining why you are returning the check, and mail both to the address required by the IRS. See the original IRS guidance for details.
• If you deposited the Trump check or received it by DD: Write a personal check or money order for the same amount, and write “2020EIP” and your SSN in the note/memo field. Then include another note explaining why you are returning the payment, and mail everything to the address required by the IRS. See the original IRS guidance for details.

Who Needs to Return the Money

Here is a summary of the different situations in which you may need to return the money:

• If you received the money by using the wrong tax form or the non-filer tool, you should return it: For example, in tax year 2018/2019, an NRA used an RA tax form or used a tool such as TurboTax that is intended only for RAs. As a result, the IRS thought you were an RA and sent you the payment.
• If the IRS sent you money based on an old tax return, you do not need to return it: For example, even if you were not an RA in 2020, if you filed with Form 1040 in 2018/2019, the IRS may have sent you $1200 based on your previous status. You do not need to return that. The same applies if your income changed.
• Return it first, then claim it again: If you were eligible as an RA in 2020, but due to a filing error on your 2019 tax return you received the $1200 early by mistake, we suggest first returning the $1200 and then, when filing your 2020 tax return, reclaiming the amount through Form 1040 as instructed by the IRS.

What Happens If You Don’t Return It

[2020.5 update] One reader shared a notice from their school’s international office instructing visiting scholars who received the $1200 stimulus payment but were not eligible to return the money. If you do not return it, interest may accrue, and it could potentially affect your future immigration status in the United States. It is best to follow the IRS instructions in the linked guidance. The original notice is below for reference:

Exchange Visitors who do not meet the IRS definition of "resident alien" are not eligible to receive these funds. Exchange Visitors are required to have resided in the United States for at least two-years before they are considered “resident aliens" for tax purposes. Exchange Visitors who are, or who have been in the US for shorter periods of time would not be considered resident aliens and should not have received a rebate.

Certain Exchange Visitors may have mistakenly received a CARES Rebate if the wrong tax return form was submitted. If you believe you received a rebate you are not legally entitled to, please follow the instructions for returning the funds on this official “Internal Revenue Service” link: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc161

If you are not certain of your tax status, please verify with the IRS or with a tax professional. Do not contact ISSS for this information as we are not tax experts.
If you indeed received a rebate by mistake, make sure you return the funds immediately, following the instructions in the link above. Interest may accrue on erroneously received funds and you could owe the government more than what was sent.
Non re-payment of mistakenly received government funds could have serious negative implications for your current or future immigration status。

FAQ

We’ll use the first round of stimulus payments as the example here; the same logic applies to the others.

If You Didn’t Receive the Money

• I’m an F1 student / in another status, but I am an RA in 2020. What should I do if I can’t get the money now?: Wait for the IRS to publish the 2020 filing guidance in 2021, then claim this credit based on that guidance. Even if you had no income, you may still be able to claim the tax credit and receive the refund.
• I’m a citizen or green card holder, but my income is very low and I didn’t file taxes: Use the IRS non-filer tool, or the TurboTax tool.
• I didn’t provide Direct Deposit information: If you filed in 2018 but not 2019, you can use the IRS non-filer tool, or e-file your 2019 return and include your DD information. If you already filed your 2019 return, then you can no longer change it.
• I’m a student or in another nonimmigrant status, was an RA in 2019, but have never filed taxes: Use the non-filer tool mentioned above and e-file Form 1040 for tax year 2019 to establish your 2019 RA status. Don’t worry—if you had no income, just enter 0; if you had some income, report it truthfully. In either case, the result should be $0 tax due or refund. If you cannot provide DD information, then after e-filing you can only wait for the paper check to be mailed to your address.
• What if I don’t have an SSN?: At the moment, there is no way to receive it. If you get an SSN this year, you can claim the credit when filing your 2020 tax return in 2021. Note: an ITIN does not work; it must be an SSN.
• I previously filed jointly, but my spouse has no SSN and only has an ITIN: Right now, if anyone on the return does not have an SSN, then no one receives the payment. You can only wait until filing your 2020 return: either file separately so the person with the SSN can claim the money, or file jointly and use both people’s tax benefits. You can calculate which filing method is better for your situation.
• What if my DD bank account has been closed?: Contact the bank first. If the DD fails, the IRS should mail a check to your address.
• I don’t have DD and I moved—how can I receive the check?: Sign up for the usps mail foward service so the check will be forwarded automatically.

If You Did Receive the Money

• I received the money, but I’m actually not eligible (not an RA in 2020 / not an RA in 2019). Do I need to return it?: Based on the information currently provided by the IRS, no.
• My income was low in 2018 and high in 2019, so I received too much: Based on the information currently provided by the IRS, you do not need to return it.
• My income was low in 2019 and high in 2018, so I received too little: Based on the information currently provided by the IRS, you can claim the missing amount when filing taxes in 2021.
• My spouse or child was not included on the tax return, so I received too little: Based on the information currently provided by the IRS, you can claim the missing amount when filing taxes in 2021.
• I filled out the wrong tax form before, which caused me to receive the money: File Form 1040x to correct the tax return, and then decide based on the situation whether you need to return it.

Child Is a U.S. Citizen but Lives Outside the United States

• If a child is already 18 or older and has an SSN, they can file their own tax return and receive $1,200 separately
• If a child is under 18, they cannot file separately; the parents must have SSNs and be RAs. In that case, the child can receive $500 and each adult can receive $1,200

Already returned to your home country but still received money, or may still receive money

• If you already left the U.S., but based on your 2019 RA status (if you already filed this year) or 2018 RA status (if you have not filed this year), the IRS sends you a payment: you do not need to return it. You did not falsely file your tax return, so you can accept the money with peace of mind
• If you are in this situation, but your refund that year was issued by mailed check: the IRS will mail the stimulus check to your old address this year. You can sign up for the USPS mail forward service to automatically forward the check to a friend’s address, and ask your friend to watch for it

NRA taxpayers who still have not filed this year

• Filing a false tax return carries major risk. For more tax-filing references, see this article: 2020 U.S. Tax Filing Guide (2019 tax year)
• The tax filing deadline was postponed to July 15. If you want to E-file, NRA taxpayers should definitely not use Turbo Tax. Instead, you can use the paid TaxAct, which supports NRA E-file

Note: This explanation is a personal inference based on information currently provided by the IRS. It does not constitute tax advice. Please consult a professional tax preparer.

What does the money people received look like?

[Updated 2020.4] Many people have already received the money today, including quite a few married couples and family filers. Our DP shows that 2019 RAs who already returned to their home country (and already filed this year) have also received the money; people who were 2018 RAs (already left the U.S. and have not yet filed this year) probably received it as well. We do not yet have DP for that case, so feel free to share if you do.

In addition, some married couples filing jointly also received $2,400. And households with a child also received the additional $500.

Trump’s check:

Summary

In short, while the U.S. tax code is complicated, if you read it carefully and reason through it, you can still find a path forward.

Will you get a share of this payment? Feel free to leave a comment below with your thoughts.