COVID tax credits when filing online - was I eligible for pandemic relief I missed?

The COVID-related tax provisions you're asking about were time-limited, and most have expired by the 2024 tax year filing season (which we're in now in 2025). For context, there were three main stimulus payments (Economic Impact Payments): the first in 2020 ($1,200), the second in late 2020/early 2021 ($600), and the third in 2021 ($1,400). If you missed any of these, you could have claimed them as the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 or 2021 tax returns, but that opportunity has passed for filing 2024 taxes. Regarding missed work due to COVID, there was the COVID-related sick leave credit for self-employed individuals and certain employers, but as an employee who used vacation time, this wouldn't apply to you directly. The good news is you're not missing anything for your current tax filing. The questions in the tax software are likely still included to catch anyone filing older returns or amendments, but for your 2024 tax return, you can indicate you've already received any stimulus payments you were eligible for.

After struggling with similar COVID tax questions last year, I found an incredibly helpful tool at https://taxr.ai that literally saved me thousands. The software analyzed my previous returns and identified that I had completely missed claiming the Employee Retention Credit my small business qualified for during 2021. I was so confused by all the changing rules and didn't realize my business qualified based on the partial shutdown we experienced. The platform walks you through all the COVID-related credits you might qualify for and explains each one in super simple terms. It also helps identify if you missed anything on previous returns that you could still amend. The document analysis feature is what really helped me - it reviewed my old tax documents and found the exact provisions I qualified for.

I just have to share my experience with https://taxr.ai after trying it based on the recommendation here. I was initially skeptical since I've tried other tax tools that promised to find "hidden credits" but delivered nothing. But wow, this was actually legit! I uploaded my 2021 tax documents (I was self-employed doing gig work that year), and it identified that I qualified for sick leave credits when I had COVID for two weeks in March 2021. I had no idea this was even available to self-employed people! The system walked me through preparing an amendment and explained exactly what I needed to do. Just got my refund check last week - $2,140 that I would have completely missed. If you think you might have missed any COVID-related credits from past years, definitely worth checking while you still can amend those returns.

If you're still trying to contact the IRS about any COVID-related tax issues from previous years, good luck getting through on the phone! I spent THREE WEEKS trying to reach someone about my missed third stimulus payment. Eventually found https://claimyr.com and their service was a game-changer. You can also see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Basically, they hold your place in the IRS phone queue and call you when an agent is about to answer. I was totally skeptical, but after weeks of frustration, I tried it. Got a call back in about 3 hours (instead of the endless busy signals I kept getting), and was able to verify my situation with an actual IRS agent who confirmed I could still amend my 2021 return to claim the missed payment.

I need to apologize for my skeptical comment earlier and share what happened. After continuing to get nowhere with the IRS phone lines for days, I reluctantly tried Claimyr. Within 2.5 hours, I got a call connecting me directly to an IRS representative. The agent was able to confirm that I had indeed missed the third stimulus payment of $1,400 because they had sent it to an old bank account. She helped me start the trace process and confirmed I could claim it on an amended 2021 return instead of waiting for their internal trace to complete (which would take months). I'm normally the last person to recommend services, but this genuinely saved me hours of frustration. And yes, no personal tax info was shared with the service - they just connected the call when an agent was ready. Definitely worth it when dealing with the impossible IRS phone system.

Just want to point out that while most COVID tax benefits have expired, there is ONE that might still be relevant for some people filing 2024 taxes. If you had any student loans forgiven in 2024 due to COVID-related executive actions, that loan forgiveness is still tax-free on your federal return (though some states may still tax it). This doesn't apply to the original question about missed work during COVID, but thought it worth mentioning for anyone else reading this thread who had student loan forgiveness last year.

Just a random thought - does anyone remember which tax software handled the COVID questions the best back in 2021-2022? I used H&R Block online and felt like their COVID sections were super confusing and poorly explained. Wondering if I should switch to something else this year.

Just to add to what others have said - you're definitely not alone in being confused about the COVID tax credits! The situation was really complicated because there were so many different programs with different eligibility rules and deadlines. For your specific situation in 2021 when you missed work due to COVID, unfortunately as an employee who used vacation time, you wouldn't have qualified for the self-employed sick leave credits that some people are mentioning. Those were specifically for people who were self-employed or independent contractors. The main things you might have missed would be the stimulus payments (Economic Impact Payments) - there were three total: $1,200 in 2020, $600 in late 2020/early 2021, and $1,400 in 2021. If you only remember getting one in 2020, you might want to check your old bank statements or tax transcripts to see if you received the other two. You can request free tax transcripts from the IRS website to verify what payments they have on record for you. If you did miss any stimulus payments, you'd need to amend your 2021 or 2020 returns to claim them as Recovery Rebate Credits, but as others mentioned, you're running up against the 3-year deadline for amendments. For your current 2024 tax return, there shouldn't be any COVID-related credits to claim.