SSDI recipients were included in the third stimulus payment automatically

If you received SSDI in 2020 or early 2021, the IRS sent you a third stimulus payment without requiring you to take any action. The third payment, issued between March and December 2021, went to people on SSDI the same way the first two payments did — through direct deposit to the bank account on file with Social Security, or by check or debit card if you had no bank account registered.

You did not need to file a tax return, contact the IRS, or submit any form to receive this payment. Social Security matched its own records against IRS records, and the payment was processed automatically. If you were receiving SSDI benefits in the month the IRS processed your payment, you were included.

The amount you received depended on your filing status and the number of may have access to children you claimed on a tax return — not on the amount of your SSDI benefit. Most adults received $1,400 per person, plus $1,400 for each may have access to child under 17.

Key Takeaways

  • SSDI recipients did not need to do anything to receive the third stimulus payment — it was sent automatically based on Social Security records.
  • The payment was $1,400 per adult and $1,400 per may have access to child under 17, regardless of your benefit amount.
  • If you did not receive a payment and believe you should have, you can claim it on your tax return or contact the IRS.
  • The third stimulus was the last federal stimulus payment issued during the pandemic.

Who received the third stimulus payment

The IRS used Social Security's records to identify SSDI recipients and sent payments automatically. You were included if you were receiving SSDI benefits at the time the IRS processed your payment — roughly between March and December 2021, depending on when your payment was scheduled.

The payment went to your registered bank account if you had one on file with Social Security. If you did not have a bank account registered, the IRS sent a check or loaded the payment onto a debit card. You did not choose the method — the IRS used whatever contact method Social Security had for you.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients were also included in the third stimulus. The rules were the same: automatic payment based on SSI records, no action required.

What to do if you did not receive a payment

If you were receiving SSDI in 2021 and did not get a third stimulus payment, start by checking your bank account and mail carefully. Payments were sent over many months, so yours may have arrived later than others. If you received a check, it may have been lost or delayed in the mail.

If you are certain you did not receive the payment, you have two options. The first is to file a 2021 tax return (even if you normally do not file) and claim the payment as a Recovery Rebate Credit. The second is to contact the IRS directly at 800-829-1040 and ask them to trace the payment. The IRS can tell you whether a payment was issued in your name and where it was sent.

Keep in mind that if you received a payment but it was sent to the wrong bank account — for example, a closed account — the bank may have returned it to the IRS. The IRS will then hold the funds and you can claim them on your tax return.

How the third stimulus differed from the first two

The third stimulus payment was larger than the first two. The first payment in 2020 was $1,200 per adult and $500 per child. The second payment in early 2021 was $600 per adult and $600 per child. The third payment was $1,400 per adult and $1,400 per child.

The income limits for the third payment were also different. For the first two payments, the IRS phased out payments for higher earners. For the third payment, the phase-out thresholds were higher, meaning more people received the full amount. However, SSDI recipients with no other income were not affected by income limits — you received the full payment regardless.

One important difference: the third stimulus was not subject to offset for unpaid debts the way some government benefits are. This meant that if you owed money to a federal agency or had unpaid taxes, the IRS did not take the stimulus payment to cover those debts.

Stimulus payments and your SSDI benefits

The stimulus payments did not count as income for SSDI purposes and did not reduce your monthly benefit. Social Security treated the payments as one-time, non-recurring payments that fell outside the normal income rules.

However, if you received a stimulus payment and deposited it into a bank account, it may have affected your resources if you also receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSI has a resource limit of $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples. If the deposit pushed you over that limit, you could have lost SSI may be able to access for that month. SSDI has no resource limit, so SSDI recipients were not affected.

If you receive both SSDI and SSI, the stimulus payment could have created a temporary resource problem. Many people who faced this issue contacted Social Security to explain the situation, and Social Security often worked with them to resolve it — for example, by allowing the person to spend down the excess resources quickly.

Claiming the stimulus on your tax return

If you did not receive the third stimulus payment and you file a tax return, you can claim it as a Recovery Rebate Credit on Form 1040. The credit is claimed on line 30 of the 2021 Form 1040.

You will need to know the amount you should have received. Use the IRS's online tool, the "Get My Payment" portal, to check the status of all three stimulus payments. The tool will tell you whether a payment was issued, the amount, and the date it was sent. If the tool shows no payment was issued, you can claim the credit on your return.

If you do not normally file a tax return because your income is below the filing threshold, you may still want to file one to claim the stimulus credit. The IRS allows you to file for prior years, so you can file a 2021 return now even if you did not file when the year ended. A tax professional or free tax preparation service can help you file.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the IRS take my stimulus payment if I owe back taxes?

No. The third stimulus payment was protected from offset, meaning the IRS could not take it to cover unpaid taxes or other federal debts. This was different from some other government payments. If the IRS took your payment anyway, you can contact them to dispute it.

What if I received a stimulus payment but I was not on SSDI at the time?

If you received a payment and were not receiving SSDI when it was issued, the IRS likely sent it based on your 2020 or 2019 tax return. You do not have to return it. Stimulus payments were not clawed back or reclaimed by the government.

Do I have to report the stimulus payment to Social Security?

No. You do not need to report the stimulus payment to Social Security. It does not count as income for SSDI purposes. If you receive SSI as well, the payment may temporarily affect your resources, but you should contact Social Security to discuss how to handle it.

Can I claim the stimulus credit if I did not file taxes in 2021?

Yes. You can file a 2021 tax return now to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit, even if you did not file when the year ended. If your only income is SSDI, you may not normally be required to file, but filing allows you to claim the stimulus payment you did not receive.

What happens if I received the stimulus twice by mistake?

Contact the IRS at 800-829-1040 and report the duplicate payment. The IRS will work with you to resolve it. In most cases, you will be asked to return the extra payment, but the IRS may also allow you to keep it depending on the circumstances.