Tax guide

Is my stimulus payment protected if I filed an injured spouse claim?

Table of Contents

Coronavirus FAQ

You got this—all you have to do is start!

We make filing taxes delightfully simple with our flat–rate price. Every feature included for everyone.

Start filing

Note: This question is specifically related to the first Economic Impact Payment from the CARES Act. For EIP3, which was sent in 2021, you can check the status of your payment by using the IRS Online Account.

I filed an injured spouse claim on my taxes but our entire stimulus payment was garnished because my spouse owed back child support. I thought my portion of the stimulus was protected since I filed as injured spouse?

If you filed a Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation in 2019 (or 2018, whichever was most recently filed), the IRS sent your portion of the CARES Act stimulus payment in late August, 2020. No action was needed to claim it.

If you didn’t file a Form 8379 and had your half of the stimulus payment garnished, you don’t have to file a Form 8379 or take any other action. The IRS should have automatically delivered your portion at a later date.

Sign Up

It’s not too good to be true. See what others are saying about filing taxes online with 1040.com