How Much Were the COVID Stimulus Checks? $1,200, $600, $1,400

The COVID stimulus checks came in three rounds and paid up to $1,200, $600, and $1,400 per eligible adult, for a combined maximum of $3,200 across all three. Each round added money for children or dependents, and each phased out above set income levels, so households above those thresholds received less or nothing at all.

First Round: Up to $1,200 Per Adult

The CARES Act, signed in March 2020, authorized the first Economic Impact Payment. Eligible individuals received up to $1,200, married couples filing jointly received up to $2,400, and families got an extra $500 for each qualifying child under 17.¹

Full payment required adjusted gross income at or below $75,000 for single filers, $112,500 for heads of household, or $150,000 for joint filers. Above those thresholds the payment shrank by 5 percent of every dollar over the limit.¹ For a single filer with no children, that meant the check hit zero at $99,000. For a childless married couple, it disappeared at $198,000. Households with qualifying children had higher cutoffs because their total credit was larger.

The IRS used 2019 tax returns, or 2018 returns for people who hadn’t yet filed for 2019, to figure each household’s amount. Most payments went out between April and August 2020.

Second Round: Up to $600 Per Adult

Congress authorized the second payment through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed on December 27, 2020.² This round paid up to $600 per adult, $1,200 for married couples filing jointly, and $600 for each qualifying child under 17.³

The income thresholds where the payment began shrinking stayed the same at $75,000, $112,500, and $150,000, and the 5-percent reduction rate carried over.³ Because the base amount was smaller, the ceiling where payments hit zero was lower. A single filer with no children saw the check vanish at $87,000, and a childless joint-filing couple at $174,000.

Third Round: Up to $1,400 Per Adult

The American Rescue Plan Act, signed in March 2021, delivered the largest single payment. Eligible individuals received up to $1,400 and married couples filing jointly received up to $2,800.⁴ This round also expanded the dependent rule. Instead of just children under 17, households could claim $1,400 for every dependent, including college students, adult children, and elderly relatives who had been shut out of the extra money in the first two rounds.⁵

Full-payment income thresholds held at $75,000, $112,500, and $150,000, but Congress changed the phase-out to a steeper ratio that wiped out the check within a narrow band above the threshold. For single filers, the payment disappeared at $80,000. For heads of household, it vanished at $120,000. For joint filers, the cutoff was $160,000.⁴ Unlike the first two rounds, these ceilings did not shift based on the number of dependents.

Three Rounds Side by Side

First round, CARES Act, starting April 2020: up to $1,200 per adult, $2,400 per couple, $500 per child under 17.
Second round, Consolidated Appropriations Act, starting January 2021: up to $600 per adult, $1,200 per couple, $600 per child under 17.
Third round, American Rescue Plan, starting March 2021: up to $1,400 per adult, $2,800 per couple, $1,400 per dependent of any age.

A single adult with no dependents who qualified for every round received a combined $3,200. A married couple filing jointly with two young children, staying below the income thresholds each time, could have received up to $10,200 across all three rounds ($3,400 plus $3,600 plus $8,400).

The Payments Were Not Taxable

All three rounds were structured as refundable tax credits, technically advance payments of the Recovery Rebate Credit for the relevant tax year. The money did not count as taxable income, could not push anyone into a higher bracket, and did not reduce a refund. Recipients who ended up receiving more than their final income would have entitled them to did not have to pay the difference back.

The Window to Claim a Missing Check Has Closed

Anyone who never received a payment, or received less than they were owed, could once claim the difference through the Recovery Rebate Credit on a federal tax return. Those windows are now shut. The deadline for the first and second payments was May 17, 2024, and the deadline for the third was April 15, 2025.⁶ Both dates have passed, so uncollected Economic Impact Payments can no longer be claimed.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6428 – 2020 Recovery Rebates for Individuals
2
U.S. Department of the Treasury. About the CARES Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6428A – Additional 2020 Recovery Rebates for Individuals
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6428B – 2021 Recovery Rebates to Individuals
5
U.S. Department of the Treasury. Economic Impact Payments
6
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Reminds Eligible 2020 and 2021 Non-Filers to Claim Recovery Rebate Credit Before Time Runs Out