Recovery Rebate Tax Credit

[Karryn1313]

I did not get my 2nd stimulus payment for myself or my 16 yr old so when I filed my 2020 taxes I answered the questions about the recovery Rebate credit and the turbotax system said I was due a $1,700.00 as my recovery Rebate Tax Credit.  Now the IRS has amended my tax return and  removed the complete$1,700.00 from my taxes.  Why did the IRS do this and why am I not allow to claim my 2nd stimulus payments when both myself and my son qualify?  Please help. Thank you.

[KrisD15]

Did you file with someone else for 2019? Did you file Jointly and get the payment for you and your son that way? 

How was the first stimulus payment made to you? 

[Karryn1313]

I filed with turbotax in 2019, head of household it's just me and my son and as of now I have not gotten my 2nd stimulus payment at all.  I thought that that is what the $1,700.00 recovery Rebate credit was for but the IRS took that money off my tax return.

[npierson7]

The second payment was supposed to be $600 per adult and the same amount  for the child under 17. Did you receive a letter form the IRS? 

[Karryn1313]

No I received nothing from the IRS.  When I went to file my 2020 taxes online, The Turbo tax program asked if I received all of my stimulus payments at which I said no and checked off that I had not received my second payments.  The Turbotax program calculated the amount I was to receive back as $1,700.00.  I don't know why it did that.

[ReneeM7122]

The reason that TurboTax said that you will receive back $1,700 is because you never received any stimulus payments.  The stimulus is an advance payment of the recovery rebate credit.  

The "recovery rebate" tax credit and stimulus checks are two parts of the same thing. The way the law is written, both the first ($1,200) and second ($600) stimulus checks were simply advance payments of the credit. So, if the combined total of your two stimulus checks (i.e., advance payments) is less than the recovery rebate credit amount, you may be able to get the difference back on your 2020 tax return in the form of a larger tax refund or a lower tax bill. 

@Karryn1313

[Karryn1313]

I did receive the first stimulus payment for myself and my son, I didn't receive the second stimulus payment for either myself nor my son. Turbotax questions asked about which stimulus payment I did and did not received and I answered the second one therefore the amount should have been $1,200.00 however the program filled in $1,700.00 and that exact amount was deducted from my 2020 taxes by the IRS.  If turbotax would have filled in the correct amount per my correct answers then the IRS would not have deducted anything and would have paid my full refund.  Now as it stands I will not receive any 2nd stimulus payment for myself or my son.  How do I correct this?

[JamesG1]

The IRS has changed the amount of the Recovery Rebate Credit without disregarding the entire amount of 

the Recovery Rebate Credit on line 30 of your 2020 Federal tax return when you file.  Even though you did not receive the $1,200 for the second stimulus payment, I wonder what record of stimulus payments that the IRS has for you.

An IRS Account will report what stimulus payments that the IRS has on record for you.

Online Account is an online system that allows you to securely access your individual account information.  You may view:

• The amount you owe, updated for the current calendar day
• Your balance details by year
• Your payment history and any scheduled or pending payments
• Key information from your most recent tax return
• Payment plan details, if you have one
• Digital copies of select notices from the IRS
• Your Economic Impact Payments (EIP 1 and EIP 2), if any.

This may be a case where the Taxpayer Advocate Service is helpful.

This website for the Taxpayer Advocate Services states:

All in-person TAS offices are closed. However, TAS remains committed to assisting taxpayers and championing their taxpayer rights. 

• For answers to common tax questions, see our Get Help section on the TAS website
• Contact us to see if we can help with your tax issue

Current information from the IRS says that a 2020 Federal 1040 tax return is the only method of receiving one or more stimulus checks in the form of a Recovery Rebate Credit on line 30 of your 2020 Federal tax return when you file.  Amended tax returns are not available before March 26.  See forms availability.

[montanaokie1]

Karrin1313. You are asking all the right questions. You are 100% right. You should have been entitled to a $1200 credit. It looks like Turbotax made a mistake and put $1700 on Line 30. You will never get a straight answer why this happened. I wish you luck and hope you have lots of time. 

[montanaokie1]

ReneeM7122. Huh? Karrin1313 is making a completely logical case and is looking for some logical information. Your response makes no sense. 

[macuser_22]

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@montanaokie1 wrote:

Karrin1313. You are asking all the right questions. You are 100% right. You should have been entitled to a $1200 credit. It looks like Turbotax made a mistake and put $1700 on Line 30. You will never get a straight answer why this happened. I wish you luck and hope you have lots of time. 

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The calculation is for both the 1st $600 and 2nd $1,200 stimulus ($1,800) adjusted downward depending on income limits.      You are asked if that is what you received.     If you received the entire amount line 30 should be zero.  If you enter an amount less than the total then line 30 will have the difference.   Sounds like the question was either answered no or was skipped without any answer.

[Karryn1313]

Thank you so much for this information.  I do have an account with the IRS and I just checked the area you said to check.  It think that it shows that I received $1,700 for the first stimulus and $1,200 for the second even though I never received the $1,200.  I went to the Taxpayer Advocate Service site using the link you provided and downloaded the form to file my complaint.  You have been more help in this last 24 hours than I have received in these last few months.  Thank you again.

[montanaokie1]

macuser_22. It's easy to go back and see exactly how the questions were answered. Myself and many others have looked and seen what our answers were and had a completely wrong number entered on Line 30 by Turbotax. We're not talking about people who incorrectly entered their data. We're talking about a program that has entered incorrect data on the customer's return. We are not programmers, but we are not stupid individuals. The bug may be fixed by now, due to all of the complaints, but many filers are already having significant problems with their refunds being adjusted downward and delayed by weeks or months due to mistakes by Turbotax. I hope people can stay on topic. It would be more helpful.