@Renquist188 - well that is where it gets complicated.... the payments were really an 'advance against 2020 taxes'. So what the IRS did was make an estimate of what you were due based on the filing and income rules. for the 1st stimulus, they used either 2018 or 2019 tax return, whatever was available. For the 2nd payment they only used 2019. But what is really occurring is they are calculating what you are due based on your 2020 numbers on your 2020 tax return and then subtracting what you already received, and it can't go below zero, the rest is a refund to you.
Think about the family that had a baby in 2020 - like you did! - there would have been nothing in 2018 or 2019 on their tax returns. But even a child born this past Wednesday (Dec 31) gets their parents a tax credit of $500 and $600 on their 2020 tax return- because everything is really based on the 2020 numbers!!!
or the person that had BIG income in 2018 and 2019, but was unemployed in 2020. They may not have received any stimulus for the 1st two payments because of their income was too high. But since everything is really based on 2020, they would be able to collect the stimulus on this year's tax return as their income is now low and everything is really based on 2020.
does that help?
