by Stacy Jackson
April 8, 2025
Taxpayers who failed to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns should have received payments by January 2025.
There is still time to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit, but the IRS encourages eligible taxpayers to act now to avoid missing the April 15 deadline.
According to the IRS, individuals who missed claiming the refundable credit on their 2021 tax returns or have not filed yet may still qualify. The credit is available to taxpayers who never received one or more Economic Impact Payments, also known as stimulus checks. As previously noted by BLACK ENTERPRISE, the IRS announced in Dec. 2024 that it would automatically issue unclaimed payments of up to $1,400, which vary based on circumstance. Estimates from the IRS totaled around $2.4 million at the time of the announcement.
Automatic payments to individuals who failed to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns were scheduled for distribution by late January 2025 to the bank account provided by the taxpayer on their 2023 tax return. Other payments may have been distributed to the individual’s mailing address on file. Individuals receiving the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit will receive letters in the mail regarding the refund. Taxpayers who receive little to no income are still encouraged to file the 2021 return in case they may be eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit.
Separate from the refundable credit, the IRS announced in March that over 1.1 million people nationwide have unclaimed refunds for tax year 2021, totaling over $1 billion in refunds and a median refund amount of $781. “Under the law, taxpayers usually have three years to file and claim their tax refunds,” the IRS wrote in a March 11 release. “If they don’t file within three years, the money becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury.”
The IRS encourages taxpayers to file early as the April 15 deadline quickly approaches. “By missing out on filing a tax return, people stand to lose more than just their refund of taxes withheld or paid during 2021,” the IRS stated online.
The revenue service confirmed that most taxpayers have already received their Recovery Rebate Credit or Economic Impact Payments.
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