Woops! Government Says My Bad…You Might Have To Pay That Stimi Money Back

Wooops. The government may have messed up. Did you get a stimulus check that you weren't qualified for?  Well word on the street is that you may have to pay it back.

If you are a non-resident alien then you were never supposed to get a  $1,400 stimulus check at all and if you did, the IRS wants you to give it back stat.

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Maybe on round two they sent you money even though you made more than $80K as an individual...if so, you guessed it, fork it over.

The third round of stimulus checks should not have gone out to anyone who died before Jan. 1, 2021. If you got a check made out to someone who has passed they need that back also.

Do you believe that you should get check round number 3 but haven't yet?  Well this go around is different than the first two...you may not get a check even if you got one before because the income limit was lowered to qualify.

To qualify for the third round of checks you must meet these standards:

Individuals earning $80,000 or less
Head of households earning $120,000 or less
Married households filing jointly earning $160,000 or less
If your AGI exceeds these amounts, your household will not qualify for the stimulus payment.

If you have to send what you thought was your money back to the IRS there is a specific way to do that:

If the payment was a paper check:
1. Write “Void” in the endorsement section on the back of the check.
2. Mail the voided Treasury check immediately to the appropriate IRS location listed below.
3. Don’t staple, bend, or paper clip the check.
4. Include a brief explanation stating the reason for returning the check.
If the payment was a paper check and you have cashed it, or if the payment was a direct deposit:
1. Submit a personal check, money order, etc., immediately to the appropriate IRS location listed below.
2. Write on the check/money order made payable to “U.S. Treasury” and write 2020EIP, and the taxpayer identification number (social security number, or individual taxpayer identification number) of the recipient of the check.
3. Include a brief explanation of the reason for returning the EIP.
Here are the mailing addresses to be used based on what state you are in. See the IRS website for more information.

My head is spinning. Remember when we all just lived by school yard rules, the most important of which was "no take backs"? That was real talk. It meant once you gave something to someone you can't ask for it back. I'm talkin' hard core blacktop school yard rules that every kid with a skinned knee understood. Life is too complicated in the grown up world and for that reason alone I think the government deserves a big wedgie.

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