If you do not claim your $1,400 third stimulus check (2021 Recovery Rebate Credit) by the April 15, 2025 deadline, that money generally becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury, and you will lose the ability to claim it. Missing this deadline means you cannot file or amend a 2021 tax return to receive the credit.
Yes, it is too late to claim any COVID-19 stimulus money, as the final deadline to claim the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit (the third stimulus payment) passed on April 15, 2025, and earlier deadlines for the first two payments also expired. The IRS only allows a three-year window to file for refunds and credits, meaning you can no longer claim these missed payments by filing old tax returns.
If you did not receive the first or second Economic Impact Payment, or received a partial payment, you can still claim your full amount. According to the IRS, you should file a 2020 tax return to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit.
The IRS is no longer mailing third stimulus checks automatically. If you haven't received your third stimulus check by mail, you must file a 2021 tax return by April 15, 2025 to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit.
How much money will eligible taxpayers receive? Payments will vary but the maximum amount will be $1,400 per individual. In total, the IRS will be distributing about $2.4 billion to taxpayers who failed to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns.
However, the payment amounts may vary, according to the IRS. The full credit amount is available to individual taxpayers with up to $75,000 in adjusted gross income and to married couples who file jointly with up to $150,000 for 2021.
To check if you're owed a past stimulus payment, use the IRS.gov website to access your online account and view payment records, or if you missed a payment, see if you're eligible to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 or 2021 tax return, as the "Get My Payment" tool is no longer active for checking status, but the IRS has issued all primary payments.
Can I still claim missing first and second stimulus payments? To have claimed missing first and second stimulus checks, individuals needed to have filed a 2020 tax return by May 17, 2024. The time to file or amend a 2020 tax return to claim these payments has passed.
Stimulus payments
Single taxpayers with an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $75,000 or below. Taxpayers filing as heads of household with AGIs of $112,500 or below. Married couples filing jointly with AGIs of $150,000 or below.
You likely do not have to file a federal tax return if you made $1,400 as a single person under 65, as the standard income threshold is much higher (around $15,750 for 2025), but you should file if any taxes were withheld to get a refund, or if you had self-employment income of $400 or more, or if you're a dependent with unearned income over $1,250.
Yes, if you didn't file taxes, you could still be eligible for stimulus payments (Economic Impact Payments) by claiming them as the Recovery Rebate Credit (RRC) on a 2020 or 2021 tax return, even if you weren't otherwise required to file, using the IRS Free File program or a VITA site to file a return to get your missing stimulus funds. The IRS sent initial payments based on prior year returns, but you needed to file a tax return for the specific year (2020 or 2021) to claim any missed amounts or payments for dependents, notes the IRS.
Stimulus checks – The period to claim unpaid Economic Impact Payments has ended. In December 2024, the IRS sent payments to people who didn't receive them or claim the Recovery Rebate credit by April 2025. Read about the IRS' payments of the recovery rebate credit.
What if my stimulus money was issued, but was lost, stolen or destroyed? You can start a payment trace by calling the IRS at 800-919-9835.
Were you eligible to receive an Economic Impact Payment in 2020, but never received it? You can find information about claiming the 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit with your tax return to get the relief payments you're owed. Get more info on the Recovery Rebate Credit.
U.S. Treasury Checks
That means that if you receive a tax refund check or a stimulus check, you would still be entitled to the money the government owes after that one-year mark, but you would need to contact the check issuer and ask for a new one if that time has passed.
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.
The stimulus amount is dependent on your adjusted gross income. In order to qualify for the full $1,400, the taxpayers' annual income must not have been more than $75,000 for single filers or $150,000 for married couples filing jointly.
Single filers: You qualify for the full $1,400 if your AGI in 2021 was $75,000 or less. The credit begins to decrease for incomes over $75,000 and is fully phased out at $80,000. Married filing jointly: You qualify for the full $2,800 (for two people) if your combined AGI in 2021 was $150,000 or less.
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.
When is the deadline to receive a stimulus check? The IRS typically only allows you to file an old return and get a refund within three years, so April 15, 2025, was the last chance to get any outstanding 2021 credit.
To check if you're owed a past stimulus payment, use the IRS.gov website to access your online account and view payment records, or if you missed a payment, see if you're eligible to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 or 2021 tax return, as the "Get My Payment" tool is no longer active for checking status, but the IRS has issued all primary payments.
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.
To track your past stimulus payments, you can check your IRS online account for total amounts or, if you're missing payments, file a tax return claiming the Recovery Rebate Credit, as the official "Get My Payment" tool is no longer active for the original stimulus rounds but your account shows records, using your Social Security Number (SSN) for access and verification.
Stimulus check eligibility for the three federal Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) in 2020 and 2021 primarily depended on income levels (Adjusted Gross Income or AGI) set by the CARES Act (1st/2nd) and American Rescue Plan (3rd), with thresholds like $75k for single filers and $150k for joint filers, plus requirements for valid Social Security Numbers (SSNs) for recipients and dependents, though the third payment included more dependents. Eligibility also extended to non-filers receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits.