Taxpayers who didn't file 2021 returns can apply for stimulus checks through April 15

Long Islanders who didn't file their 2021 tax returns could be eligible for thousands of dollars if they never received a third COVID stimulus check and failed to claim a related tax credit.

Individuals have until April 15 to file their 2021 returns to qualify for the missed payments through the Recovery Rebate Credit, which refunds people who didn't receive their full stimulus payment, according to the IRS.

“Taxpayers usually have three years to file and claim their tax refunds,” the IRS said in a statement earlier this month. “If they don’t file within three years, the money becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury.”

In December, the IRS estimated it owed about 1 million taxpayers who had failed to receive a third COVID stimulus payment $2.4 billion.

It began sending automatic payments at that time to individuals and families who filed their 2021 tax returns but did not claim the Recovery Rebate Credit. Those payments were due to arrive by late January.

Households who filed their 2021 tax returns but failed to claim the credit do not need to take any action. The IRS said it would send payment to the bank account provided on a taxpayer’s 2023 tax return or the address of record if bank account information was not provided.

Lynne Fuentes, managing partner at Fuentes & Angel CPAs in Jericho, said she has been asking clients this year about whether they received their stimulus checks and filed their 2021 tax returns but hasn't found any who are eligible because they submit returns annually. 

Fuentes said she asks clients to check in with their elderly parents, who might be more likely to have missed out. 

That is because people with very low incomes, including households with low incomes solely from Social Security benefits, may not be required to file tax returns. 

"They may not have had enough income to have to file," Fuentes said. "But then they're not realizing they wouldn't get the rebate they're entitled to."

The number of tax filers still eligible for the credit is probably quite limited given the lengths the federal government went to send stimulus payments, including by automatically enrolling Social Security recipients, said Michael Durant, a certified public accountant and board member of the New York State Society of CPAs. 

Before claiming the credit, individuals should check how much they received in stimulus checks, formally known as Economic Impact Payments, in their online IRS accounts, said Durant, a Bronx-based CPA who serves families around the tristate area, including on Long Island. 

In 2021, the third round of stimulus payments were worth $1,400 per income tax filer and $1,400 per child as part of the American Rescue Plan Act.

Single taxpayers qualified for the full $1,400 if their income did not exceed $75,000 and at least a portion of that amount for incomes under $80,000.

Married couples who filed their tax returns jointly qualified for up to $2,800 if they had income of no more than $150,000, with couples earning up to $160,000 receiving a partial payment.

The federal government paid $814 billion in stimulus payments to households during 2020 and 2021 across three rounds of payments in March 2020, December 2020 and March 2021, according to federal data. 

By Jonathan LaMantia

jonathan.lamantia@newsday.com@jonlamantia

Jonathan LaMantia covers residential real estate and other business news on Long Island. He previously covered the business of health care for Crain's New York Business.