There seems to be confusion on the wording of these articles everyone is screenshotting and floating around. the IRS is adding a NEW line to the 2020 tax return for the stimulus. It is a NEW tax credit, therefore this won’t affect your 2020 tax liability/refund (unless in the rare case you earn significantly more in 2020 then you did in 2018 or 2019). People are saying it’s an “advance” because you’re getting the money for the NEW credit now. If you don’t receive a check for some reason, then when you file your 2020 tax return, you will be eligible to receive the $1, 200 or so credit as an addition to your 2020 refund. But if you receive the check NOW, you obvs won’t receive a refund in 2021 for the NEW tax credit because like most people you are receiving the money now. Signed- a CPA