BALTIMORE (WBFF/WKRC) - Millions of people have been helped by the money distributed by the American Rescue Plan. The bill signed into law by President Joe Biden back in March sent $1,400 checks directly to most people. It also massively expanded money available to people through the tax code. Most notably, the Child Tax Credit was expanded by at least $1,000, and the first half of the credit is being delivered to eligible families every month between August and December 2021 to the tune of $15 billion in each of those payments.
But, according to the IRS, some of you may be asking for money that the agency doesn't think you should have... and it's fixing your tax return for you. So what's happening?
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People who didn't receive the $1,400 stimulus check can claim it on their taxes, called the Recovery Rebate Credit. Many taxpayers filed for the credit even though they received the full amount from their stimulus checks. That's not allowed and considered double-dipping.
The agency is correcting returns under its "Math Error Authority (part 2)" and it is doing this far more this year compared to last year. The main forms of the letters are called CP-11, CP-12, CP-13 or Letter 6470.
According to the Taxpayer Advocate Service:
"Specifically, in calendar year (CY) 2020 through July 15, 2020, there were 628,997 math error corrections made on returns filed by taxpayers. For the same time period in 2021, the IRS made about 9 million math error corrections on returns filed by taxpayers, about 7.4 million of which were related to the RRC."
As a reminder, people could receive the credit if their income as an individual was under $75,000 or $150,000 if married. Above those numbers, you may owe some money.
The IRS will notify you if your tax return is being changed. You'll get a letter about the change. You do have the right to appeal the change.
However, there was an error with some of the letters. According to the IRS:
"We previously sent you a CP 11, 12, or 13 notice explaining the change, but that notice did not properly explain your appeal rights."
So, the agency sent another letter, "Letter 6470" explaining that you do have the right to appeal the changes. In general, you must notify the agency within 60 days if you believe the correction is wrong.
The IRS phone number to call is 800-829-8374.