So This is What Happened to Our Stimulus Payment

When we received our economic stimulus payment of $201.10 last Friday, we didn’t know what went wrong because the note from IRS said we should get $383.95, and I was actually expecting another check.

Now, a week later, I guess I can forget about another check and the reason for the reduced payment is my own fault. The $182 is the penalty/interests for not making enough estimated tax payment . I didn’t figure this out myself. Another letter from the IRS came yesterday, explaining how the interests are calculated together with tax payment vouchers. It isn’t that I didn’t make tax payments. I did pay $3,500 tax via EFTPS before April 15, but apparently that’s not enough. And when I went through the tax forms TurboTax made for me, I didn’t see any penalty payment!!

Well, lesson learned.

Another thing I noticed is that the government, even the IRS, didn’t really know what they are doing. In the IRS letter, they said I still own them $182.64 and asked me to pay it. Haven’t they already taken it away from me? I will make the payment if they give me the full $383.95 that we are entitled to. That said, I guess I will still have to send them a letter to tell them the penalty has already been taken.