How to return back Stimulus check to IRS

[arunprasaath]

I got my Stimulus check based on 2018 returns. But I am not eligible as my 2019 income has increased. How can I return back my Stimulus check. Will it be removed when I file 2020 returns or is there a place or form in Turbotax,  where I can add with my 2019 returns?

[Carl]

I would suggest you deposit the check and just leave it. The stimulus is based on your 2020 status and the IRS has no way of knowing what that status is until your file your 2020 tax return next year. So when you file the return next year, that's when you will pay it back. To make things even simpler you might want to pay it back as a quarterly tax payment to the IRS in the amount of the check. You can do that "right now" if you want, at www.irs.gov/payments.

[arunprasaath]

By the way I got it as direct deposit.

I just noticed in IRS website we can write a personal check. But is that advisable, https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payment-information-center#more

[rjs]

@arunprasaath  Keep the money. When Congress wrote the CARES Act they knew that using 2018 tax returns would result in some people getting a larger stimulus payment than they are eligible for, or getting a payment when they are not eligible at all. The law provides that in such cases you do not have to pay it back. Your stimulus payment will be recalculated on your 2020 tax return, but if it comes out less than what you already received, you will not have to pay it back.

[Critter]

The stimulus payment is an ADVANCE on the 2020 credit and it will be reconciled on the 2020 return ... if you got too much you get to keep it and if you did not get enough in advance then you will get more.