If you are one of the people who has not yet received the check for $ 1,200 or $ 600 that the federal government has authorized, you can claim it on your return for the 2020 tax year that started a week ago.
“There are taxpayers who, for various reasons, have not yet received the $ 1,200 or $ 600 or have not received compensation for their family members. OR [experimentaron] demographic changes. To give you an example that in the year 2020 a new dependent was born to that taxpayer, you can retroactively apply for the $ 600 dependent on the $ 1,200 program. The same way, [puede solicitar] the additional $ 500 for the second economic stimulus program, ”Treasury Secretary Francisco Parés said at a news conference.
According to the official, people should present this information in Annex B3 of the tax return and can claim these incentives if they have not received them or if they are entitled to additional payment for their family members.
[El anejo B3] The main goal is to help those people who understand that they have not received all or part of the reward of $ 1,200 and $ 600, as prescribed by law, who can reconcile and make the corresponding claim through the return, ”said Parés.
The people who have received an email with the amount of funds they have received in relation to these incentives, Parés explained that it is a measure to inform the person of the total amount they have received according to the data from the Treasury.
“The economic impact notices that have been sent are in principle required by law, with the Treasury Department informing the public how much, according to our data, the Treasury Department has paid them for this payment for the economic impact. of $ 1,200 and $ 600. This promotes transparency and that the person knows how much the Treasury Department understands they have sent to this person and that it helps the person complete this new schedule included on the return that is the schedule B3, ‘he added.
While Parés pointed this out to people, if they haven’t received the $ 1,200 or $ 600 checks, make sure their names and Social Security numbers match the Treasury records.
“We estimate that 3% of Social Security is prevented from receiving the incentive, either as a taxpayer, partner or dependent in the cases that apply due to failure to comply with this requirement imposed by the federal government, ”he said.
“Good practice, in the cases that have not received payment, verify your Social Security card and how your name and social security number are written and make sure that at the time of filing the claim and submitting your return those names and social security number matches perfectly. No approximation, but perfectly with what that social security card says. If it doesn’t match, the DH is completely prevented from making payments, “Parés added.
PUA, unemployment and checks of $ 1,200 and $ 600 are not taxable
Parés, for his part, reiterated that the checks people have received for pandemic unemployment assistance (PUA) and unemployment are not taxable, but must be reported. Likewise, it pointed out that checks for $ 1,200 and $ 600 are also not taxable, but must be reported on the return under Schedule B3.
“I need to clarify: For Puerto Rico’s purposes, both the PUA, the regular unemployment rate and the $ 1,200, are $ 600 economic benefits that are not subject to tax in Puerto Rico. I emphasize this. Sure, there is a schedule of exempt income in our income tax return, Schedule IE. My advice is that they adhere to the instructions provided with the tax return and report this income. But it is informative for the state, they are not taxed “said Parés.