8 Ways Your Tax Return Might Look Different Because of COVID

glamour.com:

won’t look different: There’s no automatic months-long extension on the due date like we saw for the past two years. (Though you do get a three-day grace period: Taxes are due April 18, since the IRS is closed on April 15 for Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C.) Which means it’s time to tear off a chunk of sourdough and get down to business.While this was waived for 2020 thanks to the American Rescue Plan—no needed to be paid that year on unemployment benefits of up to $10,200—that temporary relief period has ended.

So this time around, you do need to claim any unemployment benefits and pay taxes on them, just as you would have in pre-pandemic times—assuming you didn’t already have taxes withheld.The third and final $1,400 stimulus checks were sent out during the last week of January last year, but if you were among the , here’s happy tax-time news. “Those who were eligible for the third stimulus check in 2021 but never received it can get their payment when they file their 2021 taxes,” says , CPA and founder of the Alajian Group in Los Angeles.

Anyone who received less than they should can claim the and get that money added to their refund or applied toward taxes owed.If you’re self-employed and had to take unpaid time off because you had COVID, or had to take care of someone who did, or couldn’t work because you had to quarantine after an exposure, you might be able to claim that on your 2021 taxes. “Self-employed taxpayers can claim that are similar to credits allowed for other businesses if they were unable to perform services as a self-employed person due to certain COVID-19 related circumstances during the first nine months of the year,” explains , vice president of McGrant Tax & Bookkeeping in Charlotte, NC.