2021 Economic Impact Payment

[folfking]

How does TurboTax figure the amount of 2021 stimulus you qualify for? 

For my situation, my girlfriend received $4,200 for her and her two children and I received nothing (made too much as a single person on the previous year's tax return).  We married in 2021 and our combined income is less than the joint 150k limit, so I assumed I would be getting the $1,400 bump now that I also qualify.  For some reason, TurboTax has figured we were only eligible for $2,800 and won't allow that value to be edited.  I reread what a 'qualifying dependent' is and rechecked their info in TurboTax and I don't see any reason that would be the case.

[rjs]

Go back to the Recovery Rebate Credit section of the interview. How much does it say you are eligible for? Double-check that you correctly entered the $4,200 total amount that you received.

Please look at your Form 1040.

• Is the filing status married filing jointly?
• Are both of the children listed as dependents on the first page? Do they both have valid Social Security numbers?
• What are the exact amounts on lines 11 and 30?

Are you using TurboTax Online or the CD/Download TurboTax software? If you are using the CD/Download software, please look at the Recovery Rebate Credit Worksheet. What are the exact amounts on lines 6, 7, 12, and 13?

[folfking]

Bingo on the dependent status.  It is not our year to claim the kids, so it defaults to us only being eligible for $2,800.  Any ideas of how to work the software so I can get the money that I should be eligible for? 

We received $4,200.  We immediately gave $1,400 to the other parent - so the dependent portion was split evenly.  My first thought was to just input that we got $1,400 so it will give us the $1,400 owed, but that is a bad idea since the government sent out that letter showing we got $4,200.  What a pain for all separated parent situations.

I am using the online software.

[rjs]

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@folfking wrote:

Any ideas of how to work the software so I can get the money that I should be eligible for? 

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Sorry, but you are not eligible for any additional money. In fact, you are eligible for a total of $2,800 and you got $4,200, so you are ahead of the game. The Recovery Rebate Credit that you are eligible for is based on your 2021 tax return. The advance payment that you got was a guess at what your 2021 tax return would show. In your case the guess was high. But you don't have to pay back the extra payment that you got.

What you did with the extra payment was your choice. You were not under any obligation to give it to anyone else. As I said above, the Recovery Rebate Credit is based on your 2021 tax return. The parent who claims the children on their 2021 tax return will get a Recovery Rebate Credit of $1,400 for each child on that tax return.