Not a citizien and no longer in the US but got stimulus deposit, how to return money.

[pecanton1]

I filed taxes for 2019 since I was working in the US on a J-1 Visa. I have no longer living or working in the US and will not do so in the near future. I had left my bank account open for the 2019 tax purposes. Today I received the coronavirus stimulus check. I understand why the system thought I am eligible for this, but I need to return this money. I will not be filing for taxes of 2020 since I no longer have any ties to the US, and so will not have a way to report this tax credit. I am afraid if I have undeclared tax credits that it will affect my future visa applications, such as a tourist B1/B2. How do I proceed?

[KarenJ2 · Accepted solution]

Please see the IRS Returning an Erroneous Refund - Paper Check or Direct Deposit

[pecanton1]

Thank you for the information.

I am reading the steps in that link, but since right now the IRS is not receiving any phone calls, is there an alternate way of doing this? Should I just wait until the phone lines re-open? Everywhere I've seen it says to be as swift as possible as to not have an interest rates added to that erroneous deposit.

[DaveF1006]

At this time, I don't think that the government has established a protocol for returning the checks for people who do not think they deserve them.