Who Got the 2020 Stimulus Payment if They Received SSDI

If you received Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) in 2020, you were sent a one-time payment of $1,200 per adult and $500 per child under 17. You did not have to file a tax return or take any action to receive it — the payment was sent automatically to the bank account or mailing address on file with Social Security. The payment arrived between April and September 2020, depending on how your benefits were set up.

The payment was part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, passed by Congress in March 2020. Social Security and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) coordinated to send payments to people who were already receiving benefits. If you were on SSDI, you did not need to prove income, file taxes, or meet any additional conditions — your existing benefit record was enough.

Some SSDI recipients never received their payment. This happened most often when Social Security had an incorrect mailing address or bank account on file, or when the payment was sent to an address where the person no longer lived. If you did not receive your payment by late 2020, you could have filed a 2020 tax return to claim the payment as a recovery rebate credit, even if you normally did not file taxes.

Key Takeaways

  • SSDI recipients received $1,200 per adult automatically between April and September 2020 without filing anything or proving income.
  • The payment was sent to the bank account or address Social Security had on record, so an outdated address meant the check went to the wrong place.
  • If you did not receive your payment by the end of 2020, you could claim it on your 2020 tax return as a recovery rebate credit.
  • Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients received the same payment through a separate process run by Social Security.

How Social Security Sent the Payment

Social Security used two methods to send the 2020 stimulus payment. If you had set up direct deposit for your SSDI benefits, the payment was deposited into that same bank account. If you received your benefits by check, Social Security mailed a paper check to your address on file.

The payment appeared in bank accounts and mailboxes in waves. The IRS and Social Security staggered the payments based on the last two digits of your Social Security number. People whose numbers ended in 00 through 09 received payments first, followed by groups in order through 90 to 99. This meant some people received their payment in April 2020, while others did not see theirs until June or July.

Social Security did not send a separate notice telling you the payment was coming. The money straightforward appeared. If you were expecting a check and it did not arrive within a few weeks of your group's scheduled date, it likely went to an old address or was lost in the mail.

What to Do if You Never Received Your Payment

If you did not receive the $1,200 payment by the end of 2020, your first step was to check whether it had been deposited or mailed. You could call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 to confirm whether they had sent it and where. If Social Security had sent it to an incorrect address, you could update your address with them and ask whether the payment could be resent, though this was not always possible.

If Social Security confirmed the payment was sent but you never received it, or if you could not reach Social Security, you could claim the payment on your 2020 federal tax return. The payment was treated as a "recovery rebate credit." You would file Form 1040 (the main tax form) and include Schedule 1, which has a line for the recovery rebate credit. The amount was $1,200 for you plus $500 for each dependent child under 17.

You could file the 2020 tax return even if you normally did not file taxes and had no income to report. The only purpose of filing would be to claim the missing stimulus payment. If you needed help filing, you could contact a local tax preparation service, many of which offered free filing for people with low income. The IRS also ran a free online tool called Free File that let you file without paying a tax preparer.

SSDI Versus SSI: Which Program Received Payments

Both SSDI and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients received the 2020 stimulus payment, but through slightly different processes. SSDI is based on your own work history or your parent's work history if you became disabled before age 22. SSI is a needs-based program for people with low income and few resources.

SSDI recipients received the payment automatically from Social Security using their benefit records. SSI recipients also received it automatically, but Social Security processed SSI payments separately because SSI has different rules about how much money you can have in the bank without losing benefits. The stimulus payment did not count against SSI resource limits, so receiving it did not reduce or end your SSI benefits.

If you received both SSDI and SSI (which is possible in some cases), you received only one payment of $1,200, not two. Social Security coordinated the payment so you were not paid twice.

Payments for Children and Dependents

If you were receiving SSDI and had dependent children under age 17, you received an additional $500 for each child. This was true whether the child was your own child, a grandchild, or another relative you claimed as a dependent on your taxes.

Social Security used the information in your benefit record to determine how many children you had. If you had recently had a child or taken in a dependent, Social Security might not have had that information yet, and you would not have received the extra $500. In that case, you could claim the child credit on your 2020 tax return.

The $500 per child was a one-time payment only. It did not affect your SSDI benefit amount, and it did not count as income for purposes of SSI or other means-tested programs.

Stimulus Payments and Your Benefits

The 2020 stimulus payment did not reduce your SSDI benefits in any way. SSDI is not a means-tested program, which means your benefit amount does not change based on how much money you have. You could receive the full $1,200 payment and keep your full SSDI benefit with no reduction.

If you were receiving SSI, the payment also did not reduce your monthly SSI benefit. However, SSI has strict rules about how much money you can have in savings. The stimulus payment counted toward your resource limit (the total amount of money and property you can own). If you already had savings close to the SSI limit of $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a couple, receiving the stimulus payment could have pushed you over the limit and temporarily stopped your SSI benefits. To avoid this, you could spend the money on food, housing, medical care, or other living expenses, or you could move it into an ABLE account (a special savings account for people with disabilities that does not count against SSI limits).

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I still claim the 2020 stimulus payment if I did not file taxes that year?

Yes. You can file a 2020 tax return now to claim the recovery rebate credit, even if you had no income and would not normally file. You will need to report the $1,200 (or $1,200 plus $500 per child) as a recovery rebate credit on Schedule 1 of Form 1040. Many tax preparation services offer free filing for people with low income.

What if I received SSDI but the payment went to an old address?

If the check was mailed to an address where you no longer lived, you may not be able to recover it. However, you can claim it on your 2020 tax return as a recovery rebate credit. File Form 1040 with Schedule 1 and report the amount you did not receive. Keep any documentation showing you did not get the payment, such as a letter from Social Security confirming it was sent.

Did the stimulus payment affect my Medicare or Medicaid?

No. The stimulus payment did not count as income for Medicare or Medicaid purposes. If you were receiving Medicaid based on your SSDI, the payment did not change your Medicaid status. If you were receiving SSI and Medicaid, the payment could have affected your SSI temporarily if it pushed you over the resource limit, but it did not directly affect Medicaid.

What if I was receiving SSDI but had not updated my address with Social Security?

Social Security mailed checks to the address they had on file. If that address was outdated, the check likely went to the old location. You should have updated your address with Social Security as soon as you moved. If you did not receive the payment, you can claim it on your 2020 tax return or contact Social Security to see if they can locate the check.

Did I have to report the stimulus payment as income on my taxes?

No. The stimulus payment was not taxable income. You did not report it as income on your 2020 tax return. If you did not receive it and claimed it as a recovery rebate credit, that credit reduced your taxes owed or increased your refund, but it was not reported as income.