When SSDI Recipients Received the Third Stimulus Payment

SSDI recipients received the third stimulus check on the same schedule as other Social Security beneficiaries, with most payments arriving between March and May 2021

The third stimulus payment, authorized under the American Rescue Plan Act in March 2021, went to SSDI recipients automatically if the Social Security Administration already had their banking information on file. You did not need to take any action. The IRS and Social Security coordinated the payment schedule so that people receiving SSDI, SSI, or Railroad Retirement benefits got their money without filing a tax return or submitting a separate form.

The payment amount was $1,400 per person for most recipients. Payments began rolling out in mid-March 2021 and continued through May 2021. The exact date you received yours depended on which bank processed the deposit and how quickly your financial institution posted the funds — typically one to three business days after the IRS sent it.

Key Takeaways

• SSDI recipients did not need to explore or take action; the IRS and Social Security sent the $1,400 payment automatically to anyone with a bank account on file.
• Payments were sent in batches starting in mid-March 2021, with most arriving by early May 2021, though timing depended on your bank's processing speed.
• If you received SSDI by direct deposit, your payment went to the same account; if you received a paper check, the IRS mailed it to your address on file.
• SSDI recipients who did not receive a payment by June 2021 could check the IRS "Get My Payment" tool or contact Social Security to verify their banking information was current.

How the IRS identified SSDI recipients for automatic payment

The IRS did not require SSDI recipients to file a tax return or submit any paperwork. Instead, the Social Security Administration provided the IRS with a list of all people receiving SSDI benefits as of a specific date in early 2021. The IRS then matched that list against its own records to determine payment amounts and delivery method.

This automatic process worked because Social Security already maintained current banking information for most beneficiaries. If you had set up direct deposit to receive your monthly SSDI payment, that same account received the stimulus check. If you had not enrolled in direct deposit, the IRS mailed a paper check to the address Social Security had on file.

Payment delivery method: direct deposit versus paper check

SSDI recipients who received their monthly benefit by direct deposit got the stimulus payment the same way. The IRS sent batches of payments to banks throughout March, April, and May 2021. Most direct deposits posted within one to three business days of the IRS sending them, though some banks processed them more slowly.

Recipients without direct deposit enrolled received a paper check mailed by the U.S. Postal Service. These checks took longer to arrive — typically two to three weeks from the time the IRS mailed them, depending on mail delivery in your area. The checks were mailed in batches, so not all paper checks went out on the same date.

If you wanted to receive future federal payments by direct deposit but had not set it up, you could enroll through Social Security's website or by calling 1-800-772-1213. This would have affected how any future stimulus payments were sent, though the third payment had already been distributed by the time most people made this change.

What to do if you did not receive the third stimulus payment

SSDI recipients who did not receive the $1,400 payment by June 2021 had several options to find out what happened. The IRS "Get My Payment" tool, available at irs.gov, allowed you to check the status of your payment, see the date it was sent, and confirm the delivery method and account number.

If the tool showed the payment was sent but you never received it, the issue usually fell into one of three categories: the bank rejected the deposit (often because the account was closed or had fraud flags), the check was lost in the mail, or Social Security's records had an error. Contacting Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 allowed you to verify the banking information they had on file and request that it be updated if it was wrong.

Some SSDI recipients who did not receive the payment could claim it on their 2021 tax return as a Recovery Rebate Credit, even if they did not normally file taxes. This required filing Form 1040 or 1040-SR with Schedule 3 (Form 1040) to claim the credit for any stimulus payments not received.

SSDI and stimulus payment taxation

The third stimulus payment was not taxable income. SSDI recipients did not owe federal income tax on the $1,400, and the payment did not count as income for purposes of determining future SSDI benefits. This was true regardless of whether you received the payment by direct deposit or paper check.

The payment also did not affect your SSDI benefit amount going forward. Social Security does not count stimulus payments as earnings or unearned income when calculating your monthly benefit, and receiving the payment did not trigger any reporting requirements to Social Security.

Why timing varied between recipients

The IRS sent stimulus payments in multiple waves rather than all at once. The first wave, sent in mid-March 2021, went to people whose tax returns had already been processed or whose information was readily available in IRS records. Subsequent waves went out as the IRS processed more returns and verified more banking information.

Within each wave, timing also depended on your bank. The Federal Reserve processes bulk payments from the IRS in batches, and individual banks then post those deposits to customer accounts at different speeds. Some banks posted deposits the same day they received them; others took one to three business days. Paper checks depended on postal delivery, which varied by region.

SSDI recipients who had recently moved or changed their banking information sometimes experienced delays because Social Security's records or the IRS's records had not been updated. Checking the "Get My Payment" tool showed whether the IRS had current information and where it was sending the payment.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

No. Stimulus payments are not considered income for SSDI purposes and do not need to be reported to Social Security. They do not affect your benefit amount, and you do not need to contact Social Security about receiving one.

What if my bank account was closed when the IRS tried to deposit the payment?

If your account was closed, the bank rejected the deposit and the IRS reissued the payment as a paper check, which was mailed to your address on file. This took an additional two to three weeks. You could check the "Get My Payment" tool to see if a check was issued and when it was mailed.

Could I have received the stimulus payment if I was not receiving SSDI yet but had applied?

No. The IRS used Social Security's list of active SSDI recipients as of a specific date in early 2021. If your claim was still pending or had not been approved by that date, you would not have been on the list. You could claim the payment on your 2021 tax return as a Recovery Rebate Credit once you filed.

Did the stimulus payment affect my Medicaid or other benefits?

No. The stimulus payment was excluded from income and resource limits for Medicaid, SSI, and other means-tested programs. It did not count toward any income threshold and did not reduce your benefits from other programs.

What if I received the payment but was not supposed to?

The IRS did not ask for the money back in most cases. If you received a payment in error — for example, if someone else's payment was deposited into your account — you could contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to report it. Keeping money that was clearly not yours could create tax complications, so reporting the error was the safest approach.