Missing stimulus check? H&R Block has the fix

When stimulus checks began showing up in bank accounts across the country, some weren’t able to get the checks due to not having filed tax returns, but that can be remedied by filing this year, even without having had any reportable income.

Checks for $1,200 and $600 were disbursed based on income from previous tax returns and sent to accounts associated with those returns, but for those who didn’t file returns in previous years, filing for 2020 can mean getting both checks, plus any others that come this year.  Filing a tax return for 2020 when there was no reportable income is simply a matter of filing a non-filer return, which can be done by any tax professional.

“Some people did not get this last stimulus check and so what the IRS is saying is those people have to file a tax return so that they can decide if they should’ve had it or not,” said Debbie Nichols, owner of H&R Block in Hawesville.

“You file the 2020 tax return and what we do is we put $1 miscellaneous income on there,” she said.
The return is more about showing that someone exists than any income for the year, which, if it was below $400, doesn’t require a tax return.

During the process, however, the filer must accurately say whether they received any stimulus money before, because the IRS will check to see whether it’s true.
“When we file the returns we need to know how much they got because if that’s wrong, if we put in a wrong amount, that could hold up their refund because the IRS will pull the return out to reconcile it by hand and that will take longer in processing,” she said. “And I heard a rumor yesterday of six to nine months, so that would be pretty ugly.”

The government requires a tax return in order to get the stimulus checks, but it doesn’t pay for them.
At H&R Block they have two prices for these returns.
“What we’re doing is if they’re single we’re charging the $50 and if they have children on the return it’s $99,” Nichols said.

For those below a minimum income threshold, tax preparation is offered for free at the Hancock County Career Center, like every other year.

“We opened the site yesterday,” said Jean Mattingly, the county coordinator for the program. “You have to file a return that you got an income and we usually put just $1 and then process the tax return and then that gets them in the system.”
Free tax prep is available for anyone who meets the income guidelines, on Mondays from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
“Our income guideline is $69,000 for a family,” she said.
The program has to follow IRS rules, she said, which means the filer must bring a social security card, driver’s license, and proof of any income in order to complete the return.

For people who didn’t get the first stimulus check, which was based on 2019 taxes, Mattingly said they can file for that year too to try to get that check.

“We would file actually two tax returns to try to get them both stimuluses if they didn’t receive them,” she said.
Although they’ve only been open one day so far, she said they’ve already had someone try to get a check they weren’t entitled to.
“There are going to be people that will play the system,” she said. “We’ve just been open one day and yesterday we had a young man that said, ‘I haven’t got anything,’ but that was not what was reported on our stimulus verification page.”
Tax returns won’t be processed by the IRS until February 12, but can be filed starting now.

By Dave Taylor