Check Your Mailbox or Bank Account for Your $1,600 Refund

If you were unemployed during the pandemic, you may be receiving a surprise refund for $1,600. The Internal Revenue Service is issuing 1.5 million refunds to Americans who got unemployment benefits during 2020. The IRS started issuing direct deposit refunds last Wednesday, July 28, 2021. It began mailing paper checks on Friday, July 30, 2021, according to CNBC. Most of the refunds are expected to be around $1,686. The funds are being given back to people who overpaid the taxes on their jobless benefits, according to CNBC

Jobless benefits are generally treated as taxable income, but federal lawmakers waived tax on a portion of benefits received in 2020, after the Covid-19 pandemic led an unprecedented number of people to tap the unemployment system.

President Biden's American Rescue Plan is the reason the monies are being refunded. According to AS.com, the plan specified that unemployment benefits of $10,200 or less couldn't be taxed, so now the IRS is making the adjustments for those people who paid taxes on them. The IRS is sending letters within 30 days to everyone receiving a refund.

Child Tax Credit Payments Issued, Did You Get Yours?

According to a tweet from the People's Policy Project, many families in need have not received the money yet,

We learned today that the IRS has failed to reach 90% of the (mostly very poor) missing kids that it needed to sign up for the CTC. For the first time ever, see our fully-fleshed out alternative to this with bill text.

If you have not gotten your check yet, you can go to an IRS website to provide your information. According to AS.com, 35 million families with approximately 60 million children, should receive the Child Tax Credit. If you have received your check, but believe the amount is not correct, you can use the link in the tweet below to access a Child Tax Credit calculator.

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