Stimulus check qualifications: How to know if you’re eligible for $1,400 or more

Roughly 127 million people have already received the third stimulus check for up to $1,400 per person, through methods of direct deposit and by mail as a paper check or EIP card, with nearly 30 million more expected to ship out soon. If you weren’t among the first two waves of people who received their payments, you might be wondering if you qualify this time. If you do, here’s how to track your payment and what to do if there’s a problem with your check.

In comparison to the first and second checks, the eligibility details have changed significantly, adding new income limits and rules that surround age, citizenship and tax status that will affect the size of your payment. We’ll walk you through what those qualifications are to help you determine whether you should expect a check — or whether you’ll be completely left out. (And here’s how to calculate how much to expect.)

Additionally, here’s how to claim any missing stimulus money or file a payment trace if you need to. We also walk you through some other, less common scenarios, with details for nonfilers, people with babies born in 2020 and families in child support situations. (By the way, here’s what we know about a fourth stimulus check.) This story was recently updated.

Important: Third stimulus check eligibility details 

The third stimulus checks now going out opens up more avenues for people to claim a payment — so long as their yearly earnings in 2019 or 2020 fall within the brackets for receiving the third check. These new payments come with changes to the income limit for individuals and families who’d qualify for a full stimulus payment — it isn’t the same as it was for the first two rounds of checks approved in 2020. Check out the chart below for more and use our stimulus calculator to estimate how much you could get.

Will my dependents be eligible for the full $1,400 amount with this check?

With the second stimulus check approved in December, each child dependent — age 16 and younger — added $600 each to the household payment. There was no cap on how many children you could claim a payment. That was an increase in the amount per child from the $500 that was part of the first check approved last March as part of the CARES Act, even as the per-adult maximum decreased from $1,200 per adult to $600 in the December stimulus plan.

This time, if you’re a parent of a baby born in 2020, you could be entitled to $1,100 if you never received the first two payments for your new dependent last year. The new law sends $1,400 to dependents as part of a third round of payments — and that includes babies who are born anytime in 2021.

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Stimulus check 3: How much money you’ll get

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Some restrictions for dependents getting the entire $1,400 check

Dependents will get $1,400 instead of $500 or $600 and the new stimulus law opens up eligibility requirements to both child and adult dependents for the first time. Dependents over age 16 didn’t qualify for the first and second checks, but a change here makes college students, older adult relatives and people of any age with certain disabilities entitled to receive money as part of the household total.

That change loops in about 13.5 million adult dependents who weren’t counted before, according to the People’s Policy Project.

Citizenship: What if my household is considered mixed-status?

In the $900 billion stimulus package from December, a US citizen and noncitizen spouse were both eligible for a payment as long as they both had Social Security numbers. This has been referred to as a “mixed-status” household when it comes to citizenship. Households with mixed US citizenship were left out of the first check.

The new stimulus bill includes all mixed-status households where just one member has a Social Security number for a third stimulus check. That potentially includes families with citizen children and noncitizen parents.

In the CARES Act from last March, households with a person who wasn’t a US citizen weren’t eligible to receive a stimulus check, even if one spouse and a child were US citizens. 

Qualifications for noncitizens and the third stimulus check

The CARES Act made a Social Security number a requirement for that first stimulus payment. Though other proposals would’ve expanded the eligibility to those with an ITIN instead of a Social Security number because they’re classified as a resident or nonresident alien, this group was excluded in the final bill text that authorized a second stimulus check in December as well. 

The new bill expands the qualifications to include all mixed-status families — where at least one member has a Social Security number — for a third check.

Can past-due child support affect my total stimulus amount?

If you owed child support, your first stimulus payment could have been taken for arrears (the amount you owed). With the second check, those who owed child support didn’t have their payment garnished to cover past-due payments. The new bill with the $1,400 payment doesn’t exclude garnishments, so your check could be garnished to pay a private past-due debt.

One more exception for people who are missing payments of any amount and need to claim the stimulus money as a Recovery Rebate Credit in their taxes: The protection from garnishment laid out in the second check doesn’t extend to catch-up payments made in the Recovery Rebate Credit, according to the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent government agency that works with the IRS. That means that all or part of stimulus money received this way could potentially be seized to pay outstanding debts. The Taxpayer Advocate Service is urging the IRS to keep rebate credits intact.

Yes, inmates are eligible for the third stimulus check

After months of back and forth, the IRS was ordered by a federal judge to send the first stimulus checks to people who are incarcerated. They are included in the new law, which means they’ll qualify for the $1,400 check. 

The IRS classifies me as an older adult. Is there anything else I need to know?

Many older adults, including retirees over age 65, received a first stimulus check under the CARES Act and were eligible for the second one — and are for the third as well. For older adults and retired people, factors like your tax filings, your AGI, your pension and if you’re part of the SSI or SSDI program (more below) will affect whether you receive a stimulus payment. 

The third stimulus check makes older adult dependents eligible to receive more money on behalf of the household. Here’s how to determine if you qualify for your own stimulus check or count as a dependent.

More work for nonfilers this year: File your 2020 tax return to get the right stimulus check amount

If you need to add a dependent the IRS doesn’t know about, you’ll need to file a simple 2020 tax return to claim them. You may also be able to get missing money for the first two checks as well, by claiming it on your taxes in 2021 as a Recovery Rebate Credit.

With the second payment, the IRS used your 2019 tax returns to determine eligibility. Nonfilers, who weren’t required to file a federal income tax return in 2018 or 2019, may still be eligible to receive the first stimulus check under the CARES Act. And this group will qualify again. Here are reasons you might not have been required to file:

Social Security, SSI, SSDI, veteran beneficiaries: What you need to know about qualifications and your payment

The majority of people who are part of the SSI or SSDI programs qualify for a check — read our guide for details. This time, many will get their payments on their existing Direct Express card, though some may receive stimulus money a different way. Consult our guide for more on what to know and do, including if you need to claim a dependent by filing a tax return for 2020.

Recipients of the first check received their payments through a non-Direct Express bank account or as a paper check sent in the mail. In the December bill, these recipients again qualified to receive payments, along with Railroad Retirement Board and Veterans Administration beneficiaries.

Taxes and stimulus check eligibility: The two are tied together

For most people, taxes and stimulus checks are tightly related. For example, the most important factor in setting income limits is your AGI, which determines how much of the total stimulus payment you would be entitled to receive. The same holds true with a third stimulus check.

Here’s what we know about whether Congress will use your 2019 tax information to determine your payment or if it will look at your 2020 tax returns to set your check amount — and what happens if you get too much money or not enough because of it.

For more information, here’s how to track your stimulus payment, every way the stimulus bill benefits you and what to know about the 2021 child tax credit.