Stimulus Check Never Came? The IRS Might Think You Died. Robert Carlberg told KJRH that he was grieving the death of his wife when he learned that the IRS believes that he had died as well. He filed a tax return in 2019 and learned that the return could not be processed, because he had been listed as deceased. Back in April, an Indiana man made news when he revealed that he can’t get his $1,400 stimulus check for a unique reason: Because the IRS, and several other government agencies, are under the mistaken impression that he is dead. That man, Bobby Musgrave, has been mistakenly listed by the IRS as dead, and has been for at least a couple of years, which means he’s missed out on all three stimulus checks, as well as multiple years of tax refunds.