How to enter stimulus payment received in TurboTax

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
February 22, 2021
3 replies
1 view

We do married filing joint every year. I have SSN and my wife only have ITIN. So, in the past 5 years I used SSN and my wife used ITIN for the filing. We have two kids. In March 2020, we got our permanent resident status. Now my wife has SSN. This year both of us are filing using our SSN.

Based on the stimulus package requirement everyone must have SSN in the household to be entitled to receive the first stimulus. We received $0 for the first stimulus payment. The requirement that everyone in the household must have SSN was changed for the second stimulus. So, we received $1800 (instead of $2400 because my wife was using ITIN for the filing).

This brings up my question. How do we enter the amount of payment that we received in the stimulus section for this year return? If we put $0 for the first stimulus and $1800 for the second stimulus. It says that we have $4000 credit. Based on the requirement to receive stimulus payments, I do not think this is correct. Please advise.

Regards

Best answer by JamesG1

Under the initial rule, when the first stimulus payment was issued, if one spouse in a married filing jointly tax return does not have a Social Security number, neither spouse can receive the stimulus payment.

Under the rules of the second stimulus payment, if one spouse does not have a Social Security number, the spouse with a Social Security number and the qualifying children with a Social Security number will receive the stimulus check.

The COVID-19 Relief Package retroactively changed the rule for the first stimulus payment to be the same as the rule for the second stimulus payment.

However, no first stimulus payment will be issued. The payment is issued on your 2020 tax return as a Recovery Rebate Credit (RRC). You can access your stimulus check choices by following these steps:

Down the left side of the screen, click on Federal.
Across the top of the screen, click on Other Tax Situations.
At the screen Let’s keep going to wrap up. Click on Let’s keep going.
At the screen Let’s make sure you got the right stimulus amount, click Continue.
At the screen Did you get a stimulus payment? you can update your stimulus check entries.

Examples

Former first stimulus check rules:

John and Mary are married and filed their taxes jointly. Mary has an SSN and John does not. John and Mary are ineligible for the first stimulus check and miss out on $2,400.

Second stimulus check rules:

John and Mary are married and filed their taxes jointly. Mary has an SSN and John does not. Mary is eligible for a second stimulus check of $600 even though John is ineligible. Since the SSN rule change is retroactive, Mary can also get the first stimulus check of $1,200 as the Recovery Rebate Credit when she and John file their 2020 tax return.

See also here and here.

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B

bmarserv

Level 2

I didnt get a second stimulus check at all. Where is this accounted for

VolvoGirl

Level 15

When you go through the federal review tab it will ask how much you got if any. Enter a 0 in the box if you didn't get one. Or to enter your stimulus payment in TurboTax, type "stimulus" (without the quotes) in the Search box, then click the link that says "Jump to stimulus."

After you have entered your tax information and are ready for the Federal Review, it will be the first question.

If you are trying to trigger it, you can go to Other Situations, answer any questions and click Done. The next automatic selection is Federal Review and it will ask about payments received.

If you didn't get one or both of the Stimulus payments or qualify for more it will be the Recovery rebate credit on 1040 line 30. It either adds to your refund or reduced a tax due.

If you are a dependent or your 2020 income is too high you won't get prompted for the Stimulus section since you can't qualify for any more. And you don't have to enter what you already got and don't have to pay it back. 1040 line 30 is only if you qualify for more not what you already got.