While millions of Americans have already received their $600 stimulus check, many are still waiting for the money to arrive and will now need to file a tax return to get the money.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had until Jan. 15 to issue the stimulus payments under the $900 billion coronavirus relief package that Congress passed at the end of December. Now that the deadline has passed, Americans who haven’t received the money and are eligible must claim it as a credit on their 2020 tax return.
Those who didn’t receive the payment can claim a Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 tax form. The IRS will begin accepting and processing 2020 tax year returns on Feb. 12.
On Friday, the IRS also opened up Free File, a tool for taxpayers to prepare and file their federal individual income tax return for free using tax-preparation-and-filing software.
The Free File tool is available to anyone who earned $72,000 or less in 2020.