2021 Economic Impact Payment - third - can IRS calc for me?

[ctx192021]

Doing my elderly parents' taxes from a distance. They lost track if their EIP payments and not sure if they even got any 6475 letters.  Additionally, they are not sure if they received checks (they might or might not have).  

I don't have easy access to their bank statements and it's nearly impossible getting them to access their bank statements as well, as they are hard of hearing and it's very difficult to communicate over the phone. 

Please don't advise to call their bank bc they will not give me information unless I have one of my parents with me (they live far away) to give the bank permission to speak with me. Online access is not possible either. 

Possible solution (your comments welcome):

•In TT can I say that they did receive the EIP? And if they actually did NOT receive will the IRS credit them the $2800 in a refund?

•The other option is to say that they DID receive and overpay $2800 and hope the IRS will adjust and credit them. 

•So BOTTOM LINE: Will the IRS correct any errors here and just credit them correctly?

[KrisD15]

Yes, the IRS certainly will not credit for the payments if they show the payments were made.

If you report that they did not get the payments, and the IRS shows the payments were made, the return will be adjusted. 

The other way SHOULD work as well, but you would be taking a chance that the IRS would not overlook it.

I advise you check the IRS Your Online Account for them to see what the IRS has on record. 

IRS Your Online Account 

[ctx192021]

Thanks...

So if I report they were NOT made and include enough tax payment (above what the return says due) to cover in case they WERE paid, the IRS should credit the extra payment towards tax due without penalty, correct?

If not paid, they will refund the diff as the credit?

Correct on both counts?

Thanks in advance!

[AamilD]

To clarify, how do you intend to overpay the IRS within the software incase the stimulus payments were received?

Additionally, if you claim the payments were not made and overpay to cover the credit incase the payments were made, this will result in a delay since the IRS records will not match the records with your answers.

[ctx192021]

If the software does not allow me to pay more than the return states, I could send the IRS an extra payment (by mail or IF I can get through by then, via IRS the website). 

How much of a delay are we talking about?

I'm less worried about the delay, and more concerned that they actually credit the overpayment towards the taxes in case it is needed (if the credits were actually sent out). 

(And that they return the overpayment if there was not EIPs sent out.)

[AliciaP1]

First, the Recovery Rebate Credit is causing delays in IRS processing returns whether it is being claimed or not and no one, even the IRS, cannot pin down a time frame.

It has been my experience that the IRS is having delays with attaching mailed in payments to the correct tax return as well.  This means you could send in the extra payment and it may not get "applied" to the return for an extended period of time while they have cashed the payment.  Your parents would then receive a letter saying they still owed the tax if they did receive the stimulus payments. The delays are an unfortunate carryover from COVID.

If you do decide to mail in an extra payment, be sure you print a Form 1040-V (here) and send it and the payment according to the instructions on the form.

@ctx192021

[ctx192021]

Here is the plan:

•I  send in an EXTENSION with the full payment that would cover the taxes as if they were paid the EIPs. 

(Wouldn't the payment be applied to the account, as all extension payments are?)

•Then I will send in the tax forms, on which I will state that they are due the EIPs.

•The IRS calculate whether they really got the EIPs or not. 

•If they did NOT get the EIPs, as I suspect, I hope they will be sent the EIP as a credit. 

•If they DID got the EIPs, then they are covered by the tax payment.

(And they must find the checks! If they lost their checks, I have to figure out how to get new ones issued. But it's unlikely they lost them.)

Does that sound like it will cover the problem?

[ctx192021]

I meant to say that I'm sending the extension payment ELECTRONICALLY so that they don't have to match up a paper payment with the account. 

[VolvoGirl]

Sounds ok.  But your 4th point.......

if they did not get the EIP the credit will already be included in the tax return refund.  There won't be any extra credit to send.  

[VolvoGirl]

If eventually the IRS adjusts the return and takes off the Recovery Rebate Credit you can put a trace on it.

If the IRS thinks they sent it to you but you didn't get it request a trace for a missing third Stimulus payment

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/questions-and-answers-about-the-third-economic-impact-payment-topic-j-p...

[polarnight]

I would like to suggest another way of looking at this.  Do your parents receive social security payments or other government checks?  If yes, it is very likely that they did receive their checks.  The government sent them to all adults, and the adults who they already send checks to were the very first to have their checks issued (and certain to be alive).  None of the stimulus checks came through the mail for those with pre-existing government payments.  Just like Social Security checks, they went straight into our bank accounts.  So the parents could have been totally oblivious to the existence of the payments if they did not keep track of their bank account(s). 

People who get government payments who do not have a bank account are issued a debit card into which their monthly payments are paid.  The stimulus payments were directly deposited into their debit card accounts.

If they get SS or a government railroad pension, it is safe to assume they got the payments.