Are you eligible to get up to $1,400 from the IRS? Here’s how to find out (original) (raw)

The IRS is sending payments to people who failed to properly claim a Covid-era creditGetty Images

Washington

The Internal Revenue Service could have a holiday present for you — as much as a $1,400 special payment.

About 1 million taxpayers around the country will find the money in their accounts or the mail by the end of next month, thanks to a new finding regarding taxpayers who had not claimed a COVID-era tax credit.

The payments will be made automatically. Taxpayers don’t have to do anything to claim the payment.

The stimulus payments were provided in 2020 and 2021 as a way of providing people with financial help as the COVID-19 crisis sent the economy reeling.

The amount of a payment depended on one’s income and filing status. The payments going out now involve people eligible to claim a credit on their 2021 federal return but did not.

Most people received the credits when they were eligible. But many who could have claimed them did not–probably due to confusion about the break.

The IRS announced it was providing the credits this month after it reviewed internal data that found many people filed a return but failed to claim the credit. It expects to provide about $2.4 billion in payments.

“Looking at our internal data, we realized that one million taxpayers overlooked claiming this complex credit when they were actually eligible,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement.

“To minimize headaches and get this money to eligible taxpayers, we’re making these payments automatic, meaning these people will not be required to go through the extensive process of filing an amended return to receive it,” he said.

This story was originally published December 23, 2024 at 10:21 AM.

David Lightman is McClatchy’s chief congressional correspondent. He’s been writing, editing and teaching for nearly 50 years, with stops in Hagerstown, Maryland; Riverside, California; Annapolis; Baltimore; and, since 1981, Washington.