Question

I became legally separated in 2020. My ex received our first and second stimulus payments in 2020 and sent me half of them. What do input for what I got?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
April 8, 2021
2 replies
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TurboTax Self Employed Online

J

JeffreyR77

You should input what you received. Half of the joint stimulus payments should be the same as the single payments.

P

paigemburkhardt-Author

One of the FAQ links on TurboTax says if you are filing as married joint that you should put what you and your spouse received as a total. The issue is I had filed married on the 2019 return and so our stimulus in 2020 reflected that. Now I’m filing single for 2020 as we are separated. So do I still put the whole amount or just what he gave me, which is not half of what is listed on TurboTax. And also as a separate question-he had already filed for 2020 when the third stimulus came out and so neither of us got the stimulus because he didn’t qualify being single and I had not done my taxes yet. So I have not gotten the third stimulus and I didn’t get as much of the first 2 as I should have because of the filing status situation. It says if you enter the wrong amount it will delay your return but I don’t know what the “right” amount is at this point.

S

Somerschool

Surprisingly, you DON'T need to declare these stimulus payments as income. So the simplest answer is, "You don't need to do anything." IF you operate a small business and file a Schedule C, however, these stimulus payments seem to make a big difference--I helped my daughter file her return, and her refund jumped from about $4000 to over $8000 as soon as I entered these payments. But that was only because Turbotax prompted me for them. So--IF Turbotax asks you for them, I'd enter the amount you got from your husband. If you don't have any situations that require that information, I'd just leave it be. Good luck with your taxes!

AmyC

Employee

Since the ex gave you half the money, that is what you actually received. Enter those numbers in the return. Once you file 2020, the IRS will know to send the the third stimulus.

The program will determine if you qualify for additional stimulus based on your input. The IRS will be able to cross check and see that you are filing separately and claiming half. The iRS will then make a final determination.

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