9 Million May Still Be Eligible for Benefits

IRS sending letters to over 9 million potentially eligible families who did not claim stimulus payments, EITC, Child Tax Credit, and other benefits.

Starting this week, the Internal Revenue Service is sending letters to more than 9 million individuals and families who appear to qualify for a variety of key tax benefits but did not claim them by filing a 2021 federal income tax return. Many in this group may be eligible to claim some or all of the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit, the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and other tax credits depending on their personal and family situation.

The special reminder letters, which will be arriving in mailboxes over the next few weeks, are being sent to people who appear to qualify for the Child Tax Credit (CTC), Recovery Rebate Credit (RRC), or Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) but haven’t yet filed a 2021 return to claim them. The letter provides a brief overview of each of these three credits.

People who have not filed a tax return yet for 2021 are encouraged to review these options. Even those who are not required to file a tax return may still qualify for several important credits.

Claiming the Credits

These and other tax benefits were expanded under last year’s American Rescue Plan Act and other recent legislation. Even so, the only way to get the benefits is to file a 2021 tax return.

Often, individuals and families can get these expanded tax benefits, even if they have little or no income from a job, business or other source. This means that many people who do not normally need to file a tax return should do so this year, even if they have not been required to file in recent years.

For this mailing, Treasury’s Office of Tax Analysis identified individuals who do not typically have a tax return filing requirement because they appear to have very low incomes, based on Forms W-2, 1099s, and other third-party statements available to the IRS.

The letters are similar to a special IRS mailing made in September 2020 encouraging 9 million potential non-filers to submit a tax return for the first Economic Impact Payment. This is part of an ongoing effort to encourage people who are not normally required to file to look into possible benefits available to them under the tax law. Every year, people can overlook filing a tax return when they may be entitled tax credits and a refund.