Stimulus check for surving child who gets Social Security?

Question

My grandson gets 400+ per month from Social Security because his father died in 2003. I filled out the tax form for the Stimulus check, marked Stimulus on the top and sent it in showing the total he received from SS in 2007. I got the form back saying " A deceased taxpayer may be eligible to file for the Econonmic Stimulus Payment if the date of death in not prior to January 2007. However the person who is filing is the son of the deceased. I am not sure what this means.

Answer 1

It sounds as if you may have put his deceased father's name and SSN on the return. If so, you need to file another 1040A using your grandson's name and SSN. However, if you or someone else claimed him on your tax return he won't be eligible to receieve a payment himself--although whoever claimed him would receive $300 if he was under 17 last year.

Answer 2

Are we  to assume that your grandchild is under 17 and lives with you and you have taken him as a dependent on your tax return?  If that is the case you will receive an additional $300 for him.  As a dependent on the tax return of another he is disqualified regardless of his income.

Answer 3

The person who lives with the child could claim the child as a dependent, since the amount of Social Security that the child receives would not pay for over half of his own support.  If the person is a relative (closer than a cousin), the child is a qualifying child for the Child Tax Credit.

The fact that the child could be claimed as a dependent would disqualify the child from a stimulus payment on his own.   The relative who qualifies to claim the child could receive a stimulus payment based on the dependency exemption.

The IRS letter was a computer generated letter and the comment does not appear to apply to your situation.