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Taxes 2020: Do you owe Stimulus Checks or Unemployment Taxes?
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 could be a tax year like no other. Here are the answers to some of your main questions.
USA TODAY
Many Americans faced a dilemma last year when they received stimulus payments of $ 1,200 for their deceased spouses or other family members. They wondered what to do with the money and if they should send it back.
The coronavirus pandemic has left many tax filers in dire financial straits for the 2021 production season after family members have unexpectedly died from the disease in the past year. The United States currently has 29.2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 528,000 people have lost their lives, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Last spring, the IRS asked family members of the deceased to return the money after about 1.1 million payments, totaling nearly $ 1.4 billion, were mistakenly sent to people died in the first round of checks, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.
The Treasury and IRS rushed to provide much-needed help to millions of struggling Americans and failed to consult death records. Then, in December, the Stimulus Package that approved the second round of $ 600 checks to eligible Americans said only beneficiaries who died in 2019 or earlier should return payments.
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Now, some people who died in 2020 may still be eligible for stimulus checks through the recovery rebate credit if they have not received economic impact payments – the stimulus checks, according to Lisa Greene-Lewis, CPA and tax expert for TurboTax.
Here’s what you need to know:
Is a deceased person entitled to payment?
In some cases, yes. If you are preparing a return for a deceased relative, some people who died in 2020 or 2021 may be eligible for the recovery refund credit if they did not receive a payment but were eligible.
You must be a U.S. citizen or a U.S. resident alien, not have been declared a dependent of another taxpayer, and have a valid social security number for employment.
As long as the person died in 2020, did not receive a stimulus check but was eligible based on their 2020 income when their return is filed, the person can claim the recovery refund credit on the return, according to Greene. -Lewis.
In December, the Tax Relief Act of 2020 increased the adjusted gross income phase-out amount for an eligible widow or widower from $ 75,000 to $ 150,000. This means that widows and widowers with incomes greater than $ 75,000 may be eligible for the refund credit.
How do I claim the recovery discount credit?
If you are filing a 2020 return for someone who died in 2020 or 2021, the IRS says you must complete the recovery refund credit worksheet in the instructions for Form 1040 and Form 1040-SR to determine if you can ask for it.
Find the recovery refund credit shown on line 30 of Form 1040 for the 2020 tax year.
Are they eligible for a third stimulus check?
Taxpayers who died in 2020 are not eligible for a third stimulus payment, according to Alison Flores, senior tax research analyst at H&R Block’s Tax Institute. Trusts and estates also cannot receive a third direct payment, she added.
For those who died in 2021, the IRS has yet to provide information on whether they would get an economic impact payment, tax experts say.
What to do with payments sent to deceased parents
If your spouse died before January 1, 2020, and you received one or both of the stimulus payments last year that included an amount for your deceased spouse, the IRS tells you to return the deceased’s portion of the payment.
Relatives were asked to return the checks because these people died before 2020 and the IRS went before the 2019 or 2018 tax returns when they sent the checks in the first round. They would not have been eligible as they died before the stimulus checks for 2020 were sent.
If you’re married and filed a joint tax return, but your spouse died before they received their payment, you just need to return the part of the money that was for your spouse, according to the IRS .
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