@dan420 - please look at your tax return closely where you child's name is listed. WAY OVER to the right, there is a check mark. Which column is it in?
if under 'child tax credit' , the the IRS made a mistake. Wait for the letter to arrive in a few weeks from the IRS and hopefully there will be a process indicated on how to complain about such errors.,
if under 'other dependent tax credit', there is a mistake in how you filled out the tax return. It is possible that you didn't get enough in the way of tax credits for the child, so you must amend BOTH 2018 and 2019 tax return, THat is a 16 week process and there is no guidance from the IRS what they are going to do about the stimulus, but amend in any event because those tax credits are way more valuable than the $500 stimulus. PLEASE LET ME KNOW THAT THIS IS THE CASE and if you have trouble figuring out the error on the return.
if the issue is the error on your tax return itself as I describe above, the worst case is that you'll get the $500 stimulus on your 2020 tax return. Here is why
- The stimulus payments are really based on your 2020 tax return (income, dependents, etc).
- The IRS is using either 2018 or 2019 – whatever is available - to ESTIMATE that payment
- When you file next year there will be a “settle up” section on the tax return.
- If you are due more stimulus (and this would include where there was a child where you didn't receive the $500 originally) you will receive it through the 2020 tax filing as an additional refund
- If you received too much stimulus (not the issue here), by law , you are not required to return it
let me know what you find!
