No, we are not getting a stimulus check from the federal government. The IRS finished issuing all three rounds of Economic Impact Payments by 2022, no new law authorizing another round is moving through Congress, and the deadlines to claim any missed payment from the earlier rounds have already expired.1Internal Revenue Service. Economic Impact Payments A few states are sending their own rebates, but the federal direct-payment chapter is closed.
Why There Is No New Federal Stimulus Check
Each of the three federal stimulus rounds required Congress to pass a specific law. The first came from the CARES Act in March 2020 (up to $1,200 per adult), the second from the Consolidated Appropriations Act in December 2020 (up to $600), and the third from the American Rescue Plan in March 2021 (up to $1,400).2U.S. Department of the Treasury. Economic Impact Payments No comparable bill exists today, and current federal policy has shifted toward managing inflation through interest rate adjustments rather than sending money to households.
The IRS cannot issue payments on its own. Without a law setting a dollar amount and defining who qualifies, the agency has no legal mechanism to send anyone a check. Proposals circulate on social media and in political campaigns from time to time, but a proposal is not a law. Until a bill passes both chambers of Congress and is signed by the president, there is nothing pending to wait for.
The Deadlines to Claim Past Stimulus Payments Have Passed
If you never received one of the three pandemic-era payments, the window to claim it has closed. The IRS let people pick up missed payments by filing for the Recovery Rebate Credit on a tax return, but each round had a firm cutoff:
- First and second payments (2020 Recovery Rebate Credit): a 2020 tax return had to be filed by May 17, 2024.
- Third payment (2021 Recovery Rebate Credit): a 2021 tax return had to be filed by April 15, 2025.3Internal Revenue Service. Publication 5486-A
These dates come from the general rule that you have three years from a return’s original due date to claim a refund or credit. Once that window closes, the IRS cannot legally pay the credit even to someone who clearly qualified.4Internal Revenue Service. Time You Can Claim a Credit or Refund Narrow exceptions exist for taxpayers in presidentially declared disaster areas or serving in combat zones, but for almost everyone else, the money is gone.
You can still log into your IRS online account at irs.gov to see whether a payment was ever issued to you. That matters only in one specific situation, discussed below: the IRS shows a payment was sent but you never received it.
State Rebate and Relief Programs
A handful of states have used budget surpluses to send their own payments. These go by different names (inflation refund checks, tax rebates, cost-of-living payments) but work the same way: a state legislature passes a law directing surplus revenue back to qualifying residents.
The amounts are smaller than the federal stimulus payments were. Depending on the state, they typically run from around $100 to $400, with the exact figure tied to income and filing status. Some programs pay a flat amount to everyone who qualifies; others use a sliding scale that gives more to lower earners. Income cutoffs commonly fall between $75,000 and $150,000 for single filers, with higher thresholds for joint filers.
Not every state runs a program like this, and the states that do change their rules year to year based on available revenue. Your state’s department of revenue or taxation is the only reliable place to confirm whether a payment exists and whether you qualify. Third-party sites advertising “secret” state payments are not credible sources. If your state is sending money, the state government itself will announce it.
Are State Payments Taxable on Your Federal Return
Getting a check from your state raises a fair question about federal tax. The IRS addressed this in Notice 2023-56, and the answer depends on the type of payment.5Internal Revenue Service. IRS Issues Guidance on State Tax Payments
If the payment is a refund of state taxes you overpaid, it is generally not taxable federally. The main exception is for people who itemized deductions on their federal return and deducted the state taxes; some or all of the refund may then need to be reported as income the following year. Because of the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions, many itemizers cannot deduct the full amount they paid, which means a refund may still not be fully taxable.5Internal Revenue Service. IRS Issues Guidance on State Tax Payments
If the payment comes from a social benefit program aimed at residents based on financial need, it falls under the general welfare exclusion and is not taxable. To qualify, the payment has to come from a government fund, be aimed at general welfare based on need, and not be compensation for work.6Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2023-56 If you take the standard deduction and your state treats the payment as a tax refund, you almost certainly owe nothing extra on your federal return.
Watch Out for Stimulus Scams
People searching for stimulus money are exactly who scammers target. The IRS has flagged several tactics that surge whenever stimulus talk picks up.7Internal Revenue Service. Recognize Tax Scams and Fraud
- Fake IRS contacts. The IRS does not call, text, or email demanding personal information or threatening arrest. Pressure to act immediately is a tell.
- Social media “hacks.” Posts claiming you can unlock a hidden stimulus payment by filing a special form or entering a code on an unofficial site are fraudulent. Some push people to fabricate credits on a tax return, which can lead to penalties and criminal charges.
- Phishing links. Scam emails and texts use altered versions of irs.gov to capture Social Security numbers or bank details. The real address is always irs.gov.
- Dishonest tax preparers. Some advertise large refunds by claiming credits their clients don’t qualify for, charge fees based on the inflated amount, and vanish before the IRS catches the error. You are legally responsible for what’s on your return regardless of who prepared it.
Suspicious emails claiming to be from the IRS can be forwarded to phishing@irs.gov. Phone scams can be reported to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at tigta.gov.
If IRS Records Show a Past Payment You Never Received
There is one narrow situation where you may still recover stimulus money: the IRS shows a payment was issued to you, but you never got it. That is a lost or stolen payment, not an unclaimed credit, and it works differently.
Start by checking your IRS online account or the Where’s My Refund tool to confirm the payment was actually sent.8Internal Revenue Service. Refunds If it was, you can ask the IRS to trace it using Form 3911.9Internal Revenue Service. About Form 3911 – Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund If a paper check was mailed but never cashed, the IRS can cancel it and issue a replacement. If someone else cashed the check, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service will send a claim package including a copy of the cashed check so you can dispute the signature.
This process is slow, and it only helps when the IRS already has a record of sending you a payment. It is not a workaround for the expired Recovery Rebate Credit deadlines. If you never qualified, or if you qualified but did not file the required 2020 or 2021 return in time, a payment trace will not open a new path to the money.