As of late 2025/early 2026, the deadline to claim the first and second stimulus checks (2020) has passed. However, you may still be able to file a 2021 tax return to claim the third stimulus check (Recovery Rebate Credit) if you haven't already, with the deadline for this being April 15, 2025.
If you haven't claimed the third economic impact payment yet, now is your time to do so. April 15, 2025, will be the last opportunity to claim the third payment.
Yes, it is too late to file for a 2023 stimulus check. The deadline to file for the first two rounds of stimulus checks was October 17, 2022, and the deadline to file for the third round of stimulus checks was November 29, 2022.
It is now too late; the deadline to use the recovery rebate credit for the 2020 stimulus was in 2024; the deadline to get the recovery rebate credit for 2021 was April 15, 2025.
You can claim the stimulus payments as a tax credit and get the money as part of your tax refund. The stimulus checks are a federal tax credit, known as the Recovery Rebate Credit. In order to get the Recovery Rebate Credit, you will need to file a tax return.
You were only able to claim the third stimulus payment by filing a 2021 tax return by April 15, 2025 and this has now expired. You can no longer claim the first or second stimulus payment(s) on a 2020 or tax return since that expired on May 17, 2024.
Normally, a taxpayer will qualify for the full amount of Economic Impact Payment if they have AGI of up to $75,000 for singles and married persons filing a separate return, up to $112,500 for heads of household, and up to $150,000 for married couples filing joint returns and surviving spouses.
After the three-year refund window closes, the funds expire and cannot be issued. If you filed on time but didn't receive the credit, the IRS issued some automatic corrections in late 2024 and early 2025. If you still haven't received anything, it generally means you were either ineligible or your claim was denied.
What you need to do
You can't get a physical "stimulus check" now, as the IRS issued them all, but you might claim missing funds as a Recovery Rebate Credit (RRC) on your 2020 or 2021 tax return by filing by the April 2025 deadline; you need to file a 2020 return for 1st/2nd payments and a 2021 return for the 3rd, even if you don't usually file, using IRS Free File or tax software to claim it as part of your refund. Check your IRS online account for payment records and use IRS.gov for resources to file.
The deadline to claim a missing stimulus payment passed on April 15, 2025. Stimulus payments, called “Recovery Rebate Credits” by the IRS, were issued in 2020 and 2021. Individuals who didn't receive their 2021 payment had until April 15, 2025, to file or amend a tax return and claim a missing payment.
Visit the IRS Get My Payment (GMP) portal at https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment to see if you can expect a 2021 Economic Impact Payment. The GMP portal will provide the date when your payment was or will be sent.
If you didn't get the full amount of the third Economic Impact Payment, you may be eligible to claim the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit and must file a 2021 tax return – even if you don't usually file taxes - to claim it.
"There is no penalty for failure to file if a refund is due. However, a return claiming a refund must be filed within three years of its due date for a refund to be allowed," the IRS noted, meaning that the last day to claim the money is April 15, 2025.
Remember, even if you owe taxes, you can still receive an economic impact payment, as these payments are protected from all offset. By investing your stimulus check wisely and managing your upcoming tax payments, you can make the most of your economic impact payment and improve your overall financial well-being.
Historical content – the 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit
The deadline to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit for the first and second stimulus checks was May 17, 2024. While you can no longer claim these payments, below describes who may have needed to file to get these stimulus checks.
The IRS $600 rule refers to a change in reporting requirements for third-party payment apps (like Venmo, PayPal) for taxable income from goods and services, where platforms must send a Form 1099-K if you receive over $600 in a year, intended to capture gig economy/side hustle income, though delays and phased implementation have adjusted the timeline, with current rules for 2024 using a higher threshold ($5,000) before fully phasing to $600 for future years, but remember all taxable income, regardless of form, must always be reported.
The IRS 7-year rule primarily applies to keeping records for claiming a deduction for bad debts or losses from worthless securities, allowing a longer period to file for a credit or refund, but it's not a universal audit limit; it's often a recommended safe buffer for general record-keeping, with the standard IRS audit period usually being 3 years, extending to 6 years for substantial income omission (over 25%) or foreign income issues, and indefinitely for fraud.
No, the IRS is not currently sending out new $1400 stimulus checks in 2026, but they did wrap up sending out final automatic payments for unclaimed 2021 Recovery Rebate Credits in late 2024/early 2025, with the deadline to claim these missed payments passing on April 15, 2025; new checks would require new Congressional action, and any texts about current stimulus payments are scams, say FOX 5 DC, CNBC, and IRS.gov.
To check for unclaimed stimulus checks, access your IRS online account, as the main period to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit ended in April 2025, but you can see payment info; for other potential unclaimed funds (like state refunds or dormant accounts), search the free unclaimed.org (NAUPA) or MissingMoney.com, which link to official state databases for free searches.
The IRS Typically Has Three Years.
The overarching federal tax statute of limitations runs three years after you file your tax return. If your tax return is due April 15, but you file early, the statute runs exactly three years after the due date, not the filing date.
The 2021 stimulus payments were worth up to $1,400 per individual, or $2,800 per married couple. A family of four could receive up to $5,600 with two eligible dependents.
Any family member that has a Social Security number ( SSN ) or dependent (regardless of age) can qualify for the third stimulus check. For example, in a household where both parents have ITINs, and their children have SSNs, the children qualify for stimulus checks, even though the parents don't.
The latest date, by law, you can claim a credit or federal income tax refund for a specific tax year is generally the later of these 2 dates: 3 years from the date you filed your federal income tax return, or. 2 years from the date you paid the tax.