Partially Refunded Cares Act $1,020 Tax Credit

[KF225]

I met the criteria for getting the full tax credit of $1,020 under the Cares Act, but when I recieved my second check for the amended tax credit it was only for ~$200. I called the IRS and they told me that based on my taxes there was only enough income filed as unemployement to get a ~$200 refunded. This makes no sense as I got and filed over $10,200 in unemployment last year. Their advice to me was to mail them a document filled out by hand that shows their error in the calculation and then they would consider revising my tax credit refund. Can anyone help me the full refund that I am owed?

FYI the light blue banner for todays event has unemployment misspelled

[STaxLady]

@KF225 

I am sorry to hear that you did not get the amount that you expected from your additional refund.

The Cares Act actually provided for an exclusion from income for the first $10,200 of unemployment, rather than a tax credit as you had mentioned. The amount of any refund due after this change, would depend on a number of factors, not just the amount of unemployment received. 

Depending on the amount of your taxable income, you may not have been taxed on the full amount of unemployment when you filed your original tax return. If that were the case, the refund would be limited.

I hope this answers your question, if not I would be happy to go more in depth, but I will need more details from you. Just reply here.

Thanks for the heads up on the banner!

[KF225]

I opted to have 10% taken out for taxes while I was on unemployement. I also filed my taxes a week or so before the bill was signed into law. My understanding is that the first check I recieved was my orginal refund without the newly passed exemption, and I would recieve a second check for the exemption of taxes on the first 10,200 of unemployment without filing an amendment.

[S_L_O]

@KF225 

In most cases, it is true that an amended return is not required in order to benefit from the unemployment exemption.  Please provide the following information from your 2020 tax return, so that I can answer more specifically to your situation.

Your filing status

Your AGI

Your taxable income

Amount of unemployment received

Did you receive EIC (earned income credit)?