How can I claim the recovery refund credit if I'm eligible?

The Recovery Rebate Credit can definitely be confusing! Let me try to clear things up for you. When they say "tax year 2021," they're referring to the 2021 taxes that were filed in 2022 (covering your income from January-December 2021). Tax years always refer to the year the income was earned, not when you filed. Since you mentioned you received stimulus checks in both 2020 and 2021, you likely already received the payments the Recovery Rebate Credit was designed to make up for. The $1,400 payment specifically was the third stimulus payment authorized in early 2021. You can verify what stimulus payments you received by creating or logging into your online account at IRS.gov, or by requesting a transcript of your account. If you did receive all eligible stimulus payments, you wouldn't qualify for the Recovery Rebate Credit. If you think you might have missed out on a payment you were eligible for, you would claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your tax return for the appropriate year - for the third $1,400 payment, that would have been on your 2021 return (filed in 2022).

I was in a similar situation and spent hours trying to figure out if I qualified. What really helped me was using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to scan my old tax docs and highlight exactly which credits I qualified for. It showed me that I had actually already received the payment but didn't remember it (embarrassing lol). Their system reviewed my prior year transcripts and broke everything down in a way that actually made sense. It can tell you if you received the stimulus payments or if you're still eligible to claim them. Way easier than trying to decipher the IRS notices or wait on hold forever.

Just wanted to update after trying taxr.ai! It was actually super helpful - uploaded my 2021 return and found out I HAD received the third stimulus but it was direct deposited to an old bank account I rarely check anymore. The detailed breakdown showed exactly when it was issued and which account it went to. They also explained that I wasn't eligible for any additional recovery rebate credit since I'd already received all payments I qualified for. Saved me from filing an amended return for no reason. Sometimes I get confused with all these different credits and payments, so it was nice to get a simple yes/no answer.

If you're having trouble getting a straight answer from the IRS website, I finally got through to an actual person at the IRS using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and was able to confirm my eligibility for the recovery rebate credit. After spending literally days trying to call the IRS directly and getting nowhere, it was such a relief. You can see how it works here: 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 seriously skeptical at first but it got me through to a real person who pulled up my account and confirmed whether I had received all eligible payments.

I need to admit I was wrong! After my skeptical comment yesterday, I decided to try Claimyr because I was desperate to resolve my recovery rebate credit question. Got a call back in about 45 minutes and talked to an actual IRS rep who confirmed I was missing one of the stimulus payments I qualified for! The agent walked me through how to claim the recovery rebate credit on an amended return for 2021 (Form 1040-X). Turns out I was eligible for an additional $1,400 that I never received because they had an old address on file. This would have been impossible to figure out through the online tools alone since my payment was shown as "issued" but never reached me.

I had this same confusion last year. There were three stimulus payments total: $1,200 (spring 2020), $600 (winter 2020/2021), and $1,400 (spring 2021). If you're missing any of them, here's what tax return you'd claim them on: - First $1,200 payment: 2020 tax return - Second $600 payment: 2020 tax return - Third $1,400 payment: 2021 tax return If you've already filed these returns and didn't claim the credit, you'd need to file an amended return (Form 1040-X) for the appropriate year.

does anyone know if i can still claim this if i was claimed as a dependent on someone else's taxes in 2021? i was a student and my parents claimed me but i think i should have gotten the stimulus too?