Recovery Rebate

[dunphy1988]

Last year my daughter was a dependent on my return (2019) because she was a full time student.  In 2020 she was employed full time all year and therefore is not a dependent.   We are attempting to file her 2020 tax return and got to the question about stimulus payments and we replied "no" because she did not receive any stimulus payments in 2020 because she was a dependent.  As we went through the next screen it stated she was eligible for $1800 but it did not ask if she was a dependent and we file this is incorrect and do not want to submit the return with this error.   Please advise if we should have stated yes to receiving stimulus payments because she indirectly received via the stimulus payments we received as her parents.

[npierson7]

You need to state in her tax return how much of the stimulus payments she received, directly or indirectly, in 2020 to calculate the right amount based on her new filing status. 

[rjs]

It's not an error. The recovery rebate credit is based on the 2020 tax return. Your daughter is entitled to the payment, even though you got a payment for her last year. That's the way the stimulus payments work. The IRS knows that some people will get duplicate payments in situations like yours. It's okay. Just leave it the way it is.

[dunphy1988]

To clarify, she is not entitled to 2020 stimulus payments because she was a dependent in 2019?  I will enter that stimulus payments were received because I received both stimulus payments in 2020, correct?

[rjs]

No, that's not correct. Your daughter did not receive any stimulus payments. You received the payments. On your daughter's tax return, enter only payments that she received herself, not payments that you received. And she did not receive any payments herself. She is entitled to the recovery rebate credit on her 2020 tax return if she cannot be claimed as a dependent for 2020. See question Q B9 at the following link on the IRS web site.

Recovery Rebate Credit — Topic B: Eligibility

[Anonymous]

Unless your daughter was suddenly financially independent this year at the young age of 17 then you didn't get any payment for her anyway.  There was no payment for dependents.  There are two things that are frequently confused about the first two stimulus payments.

1. Only the parents (or guardians) of children aged 16 and under received payments for them.
2. Anyone aged 17 or older, who was claimed or eligible to be claimed as a dependent was not qualified for a payment.