The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sent me a COVID stimulus payment in error, how do I return this payment?

January 17, 2025 — The following guidance has been provided by Sprintax, who has provided information sessions and webinars to MIT students. This is in regards to international students (non-resident aliens for tax purposes) who received checks from the IRS for the COVID stimulus payment for tax year 2021 in error — Non-residents were NOT eligible for the COVID stimulus payment.

$1400 Refund Payment Sent to F-1 Students Who Didn’t Collect COVID-19 Stimulus Checks sent in error by IRS.

Notice from Sprintax

In December 2024, the IRS began issuing payments for unclaimed Recovery Rebate Credit under the American Rescue Plan Act (so called COVID stimulus payments) to individuals that did not file 2021/2022 tax returns. However, many nonresidents have reported receiving these payments unexpectedly, leading to confusion.

If they recently received such a payment, it’s likely due to filing a 1040 tax return at some point after 2022. In these cases, the IRS may have issued the payment in error. If any of the students who received the check were a nonresident in 2020 or 2021 and mistakenly received this payment, they are required to return the checks as well as provide and clarify their nonresident status for those years.

The options for returning are as follows:

1. They received the check but have not yet cashed it:
   1. Write “Void” on the back of the check.
   2. Mail the check to a valid IRS branch location
   3. Include in it a note outlining why they are returning the check.
2. They received the payment as a check and cashed it/they received the payment through direct deposit:
   1. This will require them to send a personal check, or money order, etc., to their relevant IRS branch location
   2. On the check/money order, you’ll have to write “made payable to ‘U.S. Treasury’” and also write ‘2021EIP’, and their taxpayer ID (in this case their social security number, or individual taxpayer identification number/ITIN.
   3. Again, give an explanation of the reason for returning the payment.

In addition to this, if the student filed incorrectly, they would also need to file an amended return for the incorrect tax year.

We have updated our blogs which include instructions on how to return these checks and amend their return if necessary:

• https://blog.sprintax.com/nonresident-aliens-guide-navigating-covid-19-cares-act-stimulus-payments/
• https://blog.sprintax.com/tax-recovery-rebate-credit-nonresidents/