Notices and Letters for 2021 Tax Year
Economic Impact Payments you may receive a Notice 1444-A, 1444-B or 1444-C
Here are some details about each notice and what action some people may need to take.
- Notice 1444, Your Economic Impact Payment. The IRS mailed this notice within 15 days after the first payment was issued in 2020. Some people received another Notice 1444 if the IRS corrected or issued more than one payment in the first round. Taxpayers who received a Notice 1444 but did not receive their first payment should review the frequently asked questions (FAQs) for instructions on what to do if their first payment is lost, stolen, destroyed or has not been received. People should keep this letter with tax year 2020 records.
- Notice 1444-A, You May Need to Act to Claim Your Payment. The IRS mailed this letter last year to people who typically aren't required to file federal income tax returns but may have been eligible for the first Economic Impact Payment. People who didn't get a first and second Economic Impact Payment or got less than the full amounts, may be eligible to claim the 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit and must file a 2020 tax return even if they don't usually file a tax return.
- Notice 1444-B, Your Second Economic Impact Payment. The law that authorized the second payment gave the IRS more time to mail Notice 1444-B after the second payments were issued. This means people likely received their second payment several weeks before Notice 1444-B arrived. Taxpayers who received Notice 1444-B but didn't receive the second payment should read the FAQs about what to do if their second payment is lost, stolen, destroyed or has not been received. People should keep this letter with tax year 2020 records.
- Notice 1444-C, Your 2021 Economic Impact Payment. The IRS is mailing this letter to people who received a third Economic Impact Payment. People should keep this letter with tax year 2021 records.
Advance child tax credit payments letter 6419
Advance child tax credit payments letter can help people get remainder of 2021 credit
To help taxpayers reconcile and receive all the 2021 child tax credits to which they are entitled, the IRS started sending Letter 6419, 2021 advance CTC, in late December 2021 and will continue into January. This letter includes the total amount of advance child tax credit payments taxpayers received in 2021 and the number of qualifying children used to calculate the advance payments. People should keep this and any other IRS letters about advance child tax credit payments with their tax records.
Families who received advance payments need to file a 2021 tax return and compare the advance payments they received in 2021 with the amount of the child tax credit they can properly claim on their 2021 tax return.
The letter contains important information that can make preparing their tax returns easier. People who received the advance payments can also check the amount of their payments by using the CTC Update Portal available on IRS.gov.
Eligible families who did not receive any advance child tax credit payments can claim the full amount of the child tax credit on their 2021 federal tax return. This includes families who don't normally need to file a tax return.
Virtual Currency
Virtual currency transactions are taxable by law just like transactions in any other property. Taxpayers transacting in virtual currency may have to report those transactions on their tax returns.
What is Virtual Currency?
Virtual currency is a digital representation of value that functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and/or a store of value. In some environments, it operates like “real” currency (i.e., the coin and paper money of the United States or of any other country that is designated as legal tender, circulates, and is customarily used and accepted as a medium of exchange in the country of issuance), but it does not have legal tender status in the U.S. Cryptocurrency is a type of virtual currency that utilizes cryptography to validate and secure transactions that are digitally recorded on a distributed ledger, such as a blockchain.
Virtual currency that has an equivalent value in real currency, or that acts as a substitute for real currency, is referred to as “convertible” virtual currency. Bitcoin is one example of a convertible virtual currency. Bitcoin can be digitally traded between users and can be purchased for, or exchanged into, U.S. dollars, Euros, and other real or virtual currencies.
Tax Consequences
The sale or other exchange of virtual currencies, or the use of virtual currencies to pay for goods or services, or holding virtual currencies as an investment, generally has tax consequences that could result in tax liability.
The IRS issued IRS Notice 2014-21, IRB 2014-16, as guidance for individuals and businesses on the tax treatment of transactions using virtual currencies.
The IRS also published Frequently Asked Questions on Virtual Currency Transactions for individuals who hold cryptocurrency as a capital asset and are not engaged in the trade or business of selling cryptocurrency.