SSDI recipients received the second stimulus check between January and March 2021

The second stimulus payment, authorized under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act in December 2020, went to SSDI beneficiaries in two waves. The first batch of payments arrived in early January 2021 for people whose information the IRS already had on file. The second wave followed in late January and February 2021 for people who had to register with the IRS's Non-Filers tool or update their information.

If you received SSDI in 2020, you did not have to take any action to get the second stimulus check. The Social Security Administration automatically sent your payment information to the IRS, and the IRS deposited the money directly to the same bank account where you received your regular SSDI payments. If you did not have direct deposit set up, the IRS mailed a check or loaded the money onto a debit card.

The second stimulus payment was $600 per adult and $600 per dependent child under 17. There was no income limit for SSDI recipients—you received the full amount regardless of how much you earned.

Key Takeaways

  • SSDI recipients received the second stimulus payment automatically between January and March 2021 without filing taxes or taking any action.
  • The payment went to the same account where you received your monthly SSDI deposit, or by check or debit card if you did not have direct deposit.
  • The second stimulus was $600 per person and $600 per dependent child, with no income limit for SSDI beneficiaries.
  • If you did not receive the payment by March 2021, you could claim it on your 2020 tax return using the Recovery Rebate Credit.

How the IRS identified SSDI recipients for the second payment

The IRS used Social Security Administration records to identify people receiving SSDI in 2020. The SSA sent the IRS a list of all active beneficiaries and their payment information. Because SSDI recipients file tax returns at lower rates than the general population, the IRS relied on SSA data rather than waiting for tax filings.

This automatic process meant that most SSDI recipients did not need to register with the IRS's Non-Filers tool, which was set up for people without tax filing requirements who wanted to receive the stimulus. If you were on SSDI and received the payment in January or February 2021, the IRS had already matched your information through the SSA.

Timeline for when payments arrived

The IRS began depositing the second stimulus on January 4, 2021. Direct deposits reached most SSDI recipients' accounts within one to three business days of the IRS sending the payment. Checks began arriving in the mail in mid-January 2021 and continued through February and March for people without direct deposit.

Debit card payments, issued through the Treasury's Economic Impact Payment Card program, arrived more slowly. Some recipients did not receive their debit cards until late February or early March 2021. If you received a debit card, it came in a plain envelope from a company called MetaBank, and the card itself had no identifying marks indicating it was a government payment.

What to do if you did not receive the second stimulus by spring 2021

If you were receiving SSDI in 2020 but did not get the second stimulus payment by the end of March 2021, the IRS had a record that you should have received it. You could claim the missing payment on your 2020 tax return using the Recovery Rebate Credit. This credit allowed you to recover the stimulus amount you did not receive.

To claim the Recovery Rebate Credit, you filed your 2020 tax return (or amended return if you had already filed) and reported the stimulus amount on the form. The IRS then issued the payment as a tax refund. This process took several weeks to several months depending on IRS processing times.

If you did not file taxes and did not claim the Recovery Rebate Credit, you could no longer recover the second stimulus payment after the 2020 tax year ended. The important date to claim it was April 15, 2021, and the IRS did not extend this important date for SSDI recipients.

Reasons some SSDI recipients did not receive the payment automatically

A small number of SSDI recipients did not receive the second stimulus automatically because their information in the SSA system did not match IRS records. This happened most often when someone had recently changed their name, moved to a new address, or had a discrepancy in their Social Security number on file.

If the IRS could not match your SSA record to an existing tax account, you would not appear in the automatic payment run. In this case, you could register with the IRS's Non-Filers tool between January and November 2021 to provide your correct information and receive the payment. The IRS would then process your payment within two to three weeks of your registration.

People in federal custody, including those in prison or immigration detention, were not sent the second stimulus payment. The law excluded people in federal custody from receiving stimulus payments, and the IRS enforced this rule using Bureau of Prisons and Immigration and Customs Enforcement records.

How the second stimulus differed from the first stimulus

The first stimulus payment in April 2020 was $1,200 per adult and $500 per dependent child. The second stimulus in January 2021 was $600 per adult and $600 per dependent child. Both payments went to SSDI recipients automatically without any action required.

The second stimulus was also faster to distribute. The IRS had refined its process after the first payment, so direct deposits for the second stimulus reached most recipients within days rather than weeks. The IRS also had more complete information about SSDI recipients' bank accounts from the first stimulus, which sped up the second round.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did I have to pay taxes on the second stimulus check?

No. The second stimulus payment was not taxable income, and you did not have to report it on your tax return. If you received SSDI, the stimulus did not affect your benefits or your tax filing status.

What if I received the second stimulus but was not supposed to?

The IRS did not ask recipients to return stimulus payments that were sent in error. If you received a payment you believe you were not may have access to to, you could contact the IRS, but you were not required to repay it. The IRS's position was that the cost of recovery exceeded the benefit.

Could the second stimulus affect my SSDI benefits?

No. Stimulus payments did not count as income for SSDI purposes and did not reduce your monthly benefit amount. The Social Security Administration explicitly stated that stimulus payments would not affect SSDI, SSI, or other benefits.

Why did some people get checks while others got direct deposit?

The IRS used the payment method on file from your most recent tax return or from the first stimulus payment. If you had direct deposit set up with the IRS, the second stimulus went that way. If not, the IRS mailed a check or issued a debit card based on what information it had.

Is there a third stimulus check I should know about?

A third stimulus payment of $1,400 per person was authorized in March 2021 and distributed between March and December 2021. SSDI recipients received this payment automatically using the same process as the second stimulus. Information about the third payment is covered separately in this guide.