Questions and Answers about the Third-round Economic Impact Payment — Topic E: Requesting My Payment

If your 2020 tax return was not processed by the time your initial third-round Economic Impact Payment was made you may not have been issued the full amount of the a third Economic Impact Payment. If eligible, you can claim the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit when you file your 2021 tax return.

The IRS will continue to process 2020 tax returns but can no longer issue third-round Economic Impact Payments under the statute. 

If you did not receive the full amount of the third payment in 2021, you may be eligible to claim the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit when you file your 2021 tax return.

The IRS doesn't initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages, or social media channels to request personal or financial information – even related to the economic impact payments. Watch out for websites and social media attempts that request money or personal information and for schemes tied to Economic Impact Payments.

The IRS urges taxpayers to visit IRS.gov – the official IRS website – to protect against scam artists. The IRS has issued a warning about coronavirus-related scams.

For security reasons, a Letter 6475 about the third payment was mailed to each recipient's address on file. This is generally the address on your most recent tax return or as updated through the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Your payment was issued based on information provided to the IRS by the federal agency that issued benefits to you (Social Security Administration, Veterans Affairs, or Railroad Retirement Board).

The IRS worked directly with other federal agencies to obtain updated 2021 information for recipients to ensure we sent automatic payments to as many eligible people as possible.

Some people who received an automatic third payment based on their Federal benefits information may choose to file a 2021 tax return even if they don't usually file. If your third-round payment did not include a payment for your spouse or qualifying dependent(s), you may file a 2021 tax return and claim a 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit to get an additional payment even if you don't normally file. To claim the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit for your spouse, you must file a joint 2021 return with your spouse. To claim the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit for a qualifying dependent, you must claim the dependent on your 2021 return.

See the special section on IRS.gov: Topic B: Claiming the Recovery Rebate Credit if you aren't required to file a 2021 tax return.

The Non-Filers tool is no longer available.

If you didn't get a third-round Economic Impact Payment or got less than the full amount and are eligible for one, you can get that missing money, but you need to file a 2021 tax return and claim the 2021Recovery Rebate Credit.

See the special section on IRS.gov: Topic B: Claiming the Recovery Rebate Credit if you aren't required to file a 2021 tax return.

If you don't normally file a tax return but you need to file a federal tax return for 2021 and have no income or income of $73,000 or less, you can file your Federal tax return electronically for free through the IRS Free File Program.