# Claiming Stimulus Money



## Alltimegreat1 (Feb 25, 2015)

I am a US citizen living overseas with a US-citizen son. My wife is German. We file jointly.

We were all excluded from the first round of stimulus checks (Cares Act) due to my wife's ITIN.

Now, the new bill passed about a month ago is supposed to correct that by making the US-citizen filers with foreign spouses retroactively eligible for the Cares Act checks.

I received a $1,200 check today for the new stimulus bill, but I was expecting to receive an additional $1,700 check from the Cares Act.

Can anyone explain how I can obtain or claim this money? Thanks!


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## 255 (Sep 8, 2018)

Alltimegreat -- At this point, it's probably just easier to file your 2020 tax return and complete the "Recovery Rebate Credit Worksheet" on page 59 of the IRS 2020 Form 1040 & Form 1040-SR Instructions and then claim the credit on line 30 of the 2020 IRS form 1040 -- you'll receive the credit as part of your tax refund (the stimulus payments were just "advances" against this credit anyway.) Cheers, 255

P.S. I have read that the IRS won't accept 2020 tax returns until 12 February.


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## Moulard (Feb 3, 2017)

Its not only the easier way, it is the only way. No payments outside a 2020 tax return after 31 December 2020.


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