Received 3rd stimulus, $2800 total, $1400 for my dependent child, he was my dependent in 2020 but will not be 2021, will I have to pay back $1400 I received for him?

[ErnieS0]

You do not have to pay the $1,400 back. Adult dependents qualify for the third stimulus. It’s different from the first and second stimulus payments where only children under age 17 at the end of 2020 qualified for the $500 and $600 payments.

The IRS says, “Unlike EIP1 and EIP2, families will get a payment for all their dependents claimed on a tax return, not just their qualifying children under 17.”

Related Resources:

• More details about the third round of Economic Impact Payments

[dnamuck]

I am aware that adult dependents qualify for the third stimulus.

What I am saying is that he was 18 last year and eligible to be my dependent (Which is what the 3rd stimulus was based off of, the 2020 taxes), he is now 19, he is out of school and working Full Time now but still living with me, he will not be eligible to be my dependent on 2021 taxes that will be files in 2022 next year. 

He will also be eligible for the 3rd stimulus when he files his taxes in 2022 for 2021. What I am asking is when I file 2021 taxes in 2022 and he is no longer my dependent will I have to pay back the $1400 because he will be eligible to get it himself?

[ErnieS0]

No. You will not have to pay back the $1,400 for him.

The third payment is based on your 2020 return so if he was your dependent in 2020 then you are entitled to the payment. His status in 2021 does not matter for the third payment. At this time the third payment is the last one.

Finally, even if there was so type of mistake, the IRS has said you will not have to pay back stimulus money if you otherwise qualify for a payment, i.e. if you are a U.S. citizen or resident alien.

[NCperson]

while i think you got your answer, there are unique situations where the same person gets stimulus twice. 

and yours is one of them

for the 3rd stimulus, 

The IRS uses the 2020 tax return (or 2019) as the ESTIMATE of what you are due and pays out that amount.  

then it uses the 2021 tax return to determine what is ACTUALLY due

if the ACTUAL is greater than the estimate, that will show on Line 30 of the 2021 tax return.

if the ESTIMATE is greater than the actual,  Line 30 will be 0 as you are not required to return the extra money.  Line 30 can  never be less than zero.

So for you, since the IRS used 2020 as the ESTIMATE ($2800) and will use the 2021 return for the ACTUAL ($1400), the estimate is larger than the actual so you won't have to return the money.

for your son, the estimate is $-0- since he was your dependent in 2020, but the actual is $1400 because he will be on his own tax return in 2021.  Since the actual is larger than the estimate, he gets $1400 on Line 30 next year. 

That is the way it works and all totally legal.  You won!

(the same thing occurs in divorce situations where parents trade off the child in alternate years)

[wils0njd]

I have a similar situation. My wife and I had 3 dependent children in 2020, but will have only 2 dependents in 2021. Due to our income, we did not receive any payment.

Just this week, my 17-year-old son received a $1,400 check. He filed taxes last year, but was not his own dependent (he earned just a thousand dollars or so).

Advice? Allow him to cash it? Or send it back?

[VolvoGirl]

Better check his return.  Did he claim himself or check the box that said he can be claimed as a dependent?  Check under Name and Address by Standard Deduction.  It says SOMEONE CAN CLAIM:  YOU.  Is that box checked?  He should have been a dependent on your return and you should get the 1400 for him.  

[Critter-3]

Who's name is on that check ?  If it is his then LOOK at this tax return ... if he was claimed as a dependent on your return then YOU should have gotten the third stimulus payment if you qualify.  But if he filed and claimed himself then a check may have been issued in his name.  If he will not be a dependent on the 2021 return then he can keep this check and he will not get the credit on the 2021 return.  

[wils0njd]

It is his name on the check. 

He did not claim himself as a dependent on his return.

He will be a dependent on my return again in 2021.

[VolvoGirl]

Why wasn't he a dependent for 2020?  He doesn't get a choice.  If he qualified as your dependent he had to say he CAN be claimed even if you didn't claim him.

[wils0njd]

I don't understand your question. We put on his tax form that he was being claimed as a dependent on another form, and we put on the parents' form that he is our dependent.

[VolvoGirl]

But you just said he didn't claim he was a dependent on his return.    So we don't know why he got his own 1400 check if he was a dependent.  

[wils0njd]

That is the reason I'm asking a question.

[TopMen]

Yes. This is really good to know. I just learned this here and confirmed it on the IRS website.

The TurboTax 2021 program prompted my daughter to confirm receipt her 3rd stimulus payment check from 2021. She did not receive a check. Technically, she received $0 in in stimulus in 2021.

My daughter was a dependent on my wife's and my tax return in 2020.

So, we received an extra $1400 3rd stimulus payment around March 2021 for our dependent.

She graduated from college in December 2020 and had much higher income in 2021, she's almost 23 now in 2022, although she still lives with us.

Therefore, she is NOT a dependent for tax year 2021 on my married filing jointly return.

She has her own return as an independent person. And she is completely and legally eligible for her own $1400 issued back to her in 2022 based on the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit seen on line 30 of the 1040 form. This is an uncommon situation for taxpayers who were dependents in 2020 but became independent in 2021 as the 3rd stimulus checks were being issued. Certain groups of people in this category are effectively getting two third stimulus payments for $1400 each. It is a legitimate credit to take in this instance.

Thank you!

[Critter-3]

Yes ... this is a LEGAL double dipping ... the parents got the advance (which doesn't need to be paid back) and the child gets the RRC on the 2021 return.  This same situation happened last year when the first 2 stimulus payments were reconciled on the 2020 return.  

This also happened when one parent claimed the child on the 2020 return and  got the advance CTC based on the 2020 return  but  then the other parent claimed the CTC on the 2021 return ... another legal loophole.  In this situation, the parent who got the advance may need to repay some or all of the advance depending on their income ... this is why the IRS made an option available to OPT OUT of the advance payments which many took advantage of if they were not going to claim the child on the 2021 return.