Filing 2019 Taxes without SSN and Impact on Covid Stimulus Check

[iviinivi]

Hello,

I have an SSN, my spouse has an ITIN and our child has an SSN. We filed as married filing jointly for 2018 tax return and we haven't filed our 2019 tax return yet. We have started the process to get my spouse's SSN and we are hoping to get it issued by October 2020. We haven't gotten a Covid stimulus check yet and I'm guessing this is due to the fact that our 2018 tax return was filed with my spouse's ITIN.

I'm wondering if I should file for an extension till Oct 15, 2020 for filing our 2019 tax return. This is in hopes to get my spouse's SSN issued and file the 2019 tax return with her SSN instead of her ITIN. Will that make us eligible to request the Covid stimulus check? Or can we go ahead with filing 2019 tax return with my spouse's ITIN and then simply file our 2020 tax return (in 2021) with my spouse's SSN to get the Covid stimulus tax credit? Does it matter what date my spouse gets her SSN card issued?

Thanks in advance!

[SusanY1 · Accepted solution]

The ITIN is likely the reason that you did not yet receive an economic impact payment as returns with an ITIN were not eligible for payment, even when the other spouse had a valid social security payment. 

The IRS is not likely to issue a payment at this point for a return filed in 2019, even with an extension.  However, this does not mean you cannot still receive the payment at a later date.

As long as your spouse has a social security number when you file your 2020 return in 2021, you will be eligible to claim the credit as a refundable credit on when you file your tax return.  

Since there is some potential for additional payments to be sent at a later date, it may still benefit you to file an extension and wait to file your 2019 tax return when you have the social security number in-hand.