Stimulus Check Deadline Approaching
So, for that matter, can other agencies within the federal government. In fact, the deadline for one such stimulus check is fast approaching. For state agencies and nonprofits, though individuals cant directly apply for this particular payment.
This one is a $600 check as part of the Farm and Food Worker Relief Grant Program. Per the US Agriculture Department, Entities receiving awards will then distribute relief payments to frontline farmworkers and meatpacking workers who incurred expenses preparing for, preventing exposure to, and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
USDA strongly encourages small organizations to partner together or to partner with national organizations in submitting applications to ensure this support has the broadest reach and distribution possible to Americas farm and food workers.
Of the total pot of money, $20 million is also going toward a grant or grants for grocery store workers. And February 8, 2022, is the date that participating agencies need to circle on their calendar.
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The Omicron Variant Didnt Slow Down Job Gains
Unlike last year though, when the Omicron variant pushed new infections to levels much higher than at any time during the pandemic, the US recorded significant job gains. Data collected in the middle of the surge reported 467,000 new hires, over three times what analysts had expected. Additionally, there are more job openings than there are workers available to take them pushing up wages as businesses try to attract employees.
On the other hand, 6 million people, nearly twice as many as in December, could not work or lost hours over the previous month due to the pandemic disrupting normal business at their place of employment. The incredibly fast rise in infections from the highly contagious Omicron variant fortunately appears to have reversed just as quickly.
Fourth Stimulus Check Update
Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act, which created the third stimulus checks, did boost tax credits for most parents with children under 18, but only for the year 2021. Most parents and legal guardians will receive a tax credit of $3,600 for children under six, and $3,000 per child aged six through 17.
Half of that credit is coming in the form of monthly advance payments to parents beginning July 15 $300 per month for younger kids, and $250 for older ones. That’s similar to the monthly recurring checks that some legislators have called for.
The same law also retroactively exempted a large chunk of unemployment benefits paid out in 2020 from federal income tax. People who collected unemployment in 2020 and paid tax on it are getting thousands of dollars in tax-refund checks.
The American Rescue Plan Act also offers tax credits that cover all or most of the cost of a “Silver” health-insurance plan for six months under the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. You’re eligible for this if you filed for unemployment benefits at any time in 2021, and if you don’t currently get health insurance through Medicare, Medicaid or someone else’s health plan.
Biden’s American Families Plan, which is separate from the American Jobs Plan, will seek to extend those tax credits, including the advance payments, through the end of 2025.
The American Families Plan would also mandate up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave and subsidies for childcare.
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Strong Economic Recovery For Some
READ MORE: Child Tax Credit: How Much Money Will The Government Pay You Each Month?
In the first quarter of 2021, the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 6.4 percent, faster than the 4.3 percent rate from the fourth quarter of 2020. The Conference Board forecasts 8.6 percent growth in the second quarter and continued growth in the third quarter. Growth could even reach into the double-digits. The countrys gross domestic product , an estimate of economic activity in the economy, is close to where it was before the pandemic. Experts believe it will rise to its pre-pandemic level by this summer. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the increase in first quarter GDP reflected the continued economic recovery, reopening of establishments, and continued government response related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The housing market has also surged, thanks to low interest rates and people stuck at home realizing the limitations of their living space. The National Association of Realtors recently reported that the national median sales price for a home hit $341,600 in April, up a record 19.1 percent from April of 2020. That number rose all over the country. Much of that rise was likely pushed by houses priced above the median. Housing inventory increased over March, but was still down 20.5 percent year over year. And of the homes that sold in March, 88 percent were for sale for less than a month.
Fourth Stimulus Payment Sorry Congress Has Approved Nothing
A recent viral social media post claimed, falsely, that another round of stimulus checks are on the way.
Since the start of the pandemic, the federal government has passed three legislative packages that included stimulus checks for most Americans, including two last year during the Trump Administration, and a third this spring by the Biden Administration.
Ever since the American Rescue Plan passed, there have been calls for a fourth stimulus check, possibly to pass as part of the Biden Administrations proposed infrastructure package. However, the Biden Administration has resisted taking that step, with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki seeming to reject the idea in a recent press briefing.
However, a recent viral social media post claimed, falsely, that another round of stimulus checks are on the way.
USA Today picked up the story, looking into the claim that there will be a 4th stimulus by Memorial weekend 2k a person.
The possible source of confusion is that there are indeed child tax credit payments going out to families later this year. Those are recurring checks, and some media accounts have used the word stimulus to describe them, but they are not stimulus checks in the sense that they go out to almost everyone in the country.
Meanwhile, the president has proposed in his American Families Plan to extend those child tax credits through 2025, although a competing proposal from Congress has called for those credits to be made permanent.
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What Other Aid Is Coming
While a fourth stimulus check is improbable, more direct payments to Americans have already been signed into law. The American Rescue Plan includes an improved Child Tax Credit and extended unemployment benefits.
Under the revised Child Tax Credit, the Internal Revenue Service will pay out $3,600 per year for each child up to five years old and $3,000 per year for each child ages six through 17. Payments will be issued automatically on a monthly basis from July to December of 2021, with the remainder to be issued when the recipient files their 2021 taxes. The benefit will not depend on the recipients current tax burden. In other words, qualifying families will receive the full amount, regardless of how much or little they owe in taxes. Payments will start to phase out beyond a $75,000 annual income for individuals and beyond $150,000 for married couples. The more generous credit will apply only for 2021, though Biden has stated his interest in extending it through 2025.
The American Families Plan includes 12 weeks of paid family leave that could reach as high as $4,000 per month, depending on a workers income. It also boosts the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and places a ceiling on the cost of childcare for many families. The plan sets aside $200 billion for universal preschool. In addition to helping working parents pay for childcare, the plan hopes to allow more parents to return to the workforce.
Which Cities Are Giving Out 4th Stimulus Checks
Thats rightcities are now getting in on the stimulus check action too . See if your town made the list:
- Chicago
Low-income residents of The Windy City have been given stimulus checks at random. You read that right. Chicago will give out $500 checks to 5,000 people each month throughout 2022. Theyll be selected at random for this stimulus lottery.19
- Los Angeles
Like Chicago, LA is handing out payments to low-income residents for a year. Their program, called BIG:LEAP, will give 3,200 randomly chosen people $1,000 each month.20
- Pittsburgh
Pittsburghs program is called the Assured Cash Experiment and gives 200 low-income residents $500 each monthfor two years. The program will spend $2.5 million on lower-income zip codes.21
- Santa Ana
The close-by neighbors of LA are getting a stimulus program of their own called the Revive Santa Ana Resident Stimulus Program. It will give out $6 million to neighborhoods that fall below the poverty level in Santa Ana. Payments of $300 will be loaded onto prepaid debit cards and given out door to door to about 20,000 residents.22
- Seattle
Seattle has one of the more generous payouts on the list. The Seattle Relief Fund is a $16 million program that gives payments of $1,0003,000 to low-income residents of the Emerald City.23
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Weak Economic Recovery For Others
The pandemic has spotlighted growing disparities across the broader economy. While many households have flourished financially during COVID, many others have fallen far behind where they were in early 2020. Much of the disparity depends on whether wage earners could work remotely or needed to be on-site.
Financial insecurity is still widespread, with 38 percent of respondents in a TransUnion survey saying their current income falls short of their pre-pandemic income. The loss of a job and the loss of hours were the main reasons. Nine percent of American adults reported a shortage of food in their household over the previous week, according to U.S. Census survey data from early May. Approximately 15 percent of renters have fallen behind on their rent, including 19 percent of renters with children in their household. Millions are also struggling to pay their mortgage.
As of early May, over a quarter of American adults reported some difficulty keeping up with expenses in the prior week. A survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York determined that over 58 percent of those receiving a third stimulus check have or will use the money on consumption or paying down debt. That includes debt incurred during the pandemic. A Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll from last February listed food and housing costs as the second and third most popular uses of the then-upcoming stimulus.
Us Stimulus Checks: Live Updates
Headlines
– House vote on Build Back Better passed on Friday morning
– Maine begins distributing a $285 stimulus checks
– President Bidensigned Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill into law on Monday. His second stop to promote it was Michigan on Wednesday.
– Congress could remove Social Security Numberrequirement for Child Tax Credit
– Distribution for the fifth Child Tax Credit payment started on Monday: Find out more
– for Congress to pass a fourth stimulus check before December
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A 4th Stimulus Check Is Happeningif You Live In These States
9 Minute Read | December 14, 2021
It seems like every time a stimulus check goes out, theres a five-second pause before someone starts asking, So . . . will there be another stimulus? If youre one of those people who has been wondering if a fourth stimulus will happen, weve got your answer: Yes . . . kind of. Its true, a fourth stimulus check is happeningbut only if you live in certain states in America.
Right now, you might be thinking, Wait. What? Really?
Yep, its for real. Lets dig into this topic layer by layer and coast to coast.
Fourth Stimulus Check Update: Heres Who Will Get Some Funds This Year
A blanket stimulus check is not happening in 2022, or at the very least, has slim chances of happening, but a few people will still benefit from 2021 programs and be able to collect some funds this year.
While funds that were supposed to come in 2022 initially had hopefully included another year of Expanded Child Tax Credit payments, those have been suspended, at least for now, pending if the Senate can eventually pass President Bidens Build Back Better plan. While a new round of those payments isnt coming, some money will still come to parents through the previous legislation.
Those who qualified for the Tax Credits in 2021 but did not receive them because they hadnt filed a tax return or for some other reason are now owed both portions of the credit, which is a maximum of $3,600 per qualifying child. Depending on how many eligible children those qualified residents have, they could be seeing a massive amount of money coming their way from the Internal Revenue Service.
In addition, those who did receive the first half of the payments will receive the second half when they file their 2021 taxes this yearwhich would equal $1,800 per qualifying child. Unlike the earlier credits, which came in the form of monthly installments, this would come as a lump sum as part of a tax return.
However, despite overwhelming popular support, the potential of another blanket stimulus check remains unlikely.
Representation. A COVID-19 stimulus check.Photo: Pixabay
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Do People Need A Fourth Stimulus Check
According to CNBC, there is a case for a fourth stimulus check that goes beyond the calls from lawmakers. The Economic Security Project, a progressive organization that advocates for guaranteed income no matter what the state of the economy, says there’s a need for more stimulus checks.
We need at least one more check, said Adam Ruben.
Ruben, the campaign director at the Economic Security Project, also said that stimulus checks should be “automatic,” and not stalled as they were last summer when second stimulus check negotiations caused a long gap between the $1,200 and $600 payments.
There are signs of recovery, though. The June jobs report showed a gain of 850,000, which was better than expected, according to The New York Times. That’s the strongest one-month gain since last summer.
Likewise, the Commerce Department said that gross domestic product had grown at an annualized rate of 6.5% for April through June of 2021, surpassing the figure it had reached before the pandemic, the Washington Post reported. However, that was less than the 8% GDP growth some economists had forecast.
Regardless, certain lawmakers are pushing for relief.
This unprecedented moment demands an unprecedented response. People dont only need relief, they need stability, certainty, and predictability and the ABC Act delivers them exactly that,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal .
However, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, didn’t appear to agree.
Fourth Stimulus Check 202: The Criteria On How Receive A $1400 Payment In 2022
All you need to do in order to receive a 2022 stimulus check
Are you one of the millions of Americans holding out hope for a fourth stimulus check to lessen the ravages of inflation in the midst of the Covid-19 and Omicron pandemic?
A number of requirements must be met, but it is still possible to receive a stimulus check this 2022.
People in the United States have the possibility to receive a $1,400 stimulus check payment in the early part of 2022, however there is a specific criteria that needs to be followed in order to receive it. Here, in this guide, we explain all you need to know.
According to the U.S. Government, parents of newborns, foster, or adopted children will have a stimulus check benefit in 2022. Part of the government help will go to either a new dependent or a parent of a child who was born in 2021.
This latest $1,400 stimulus check will come as a major relief to many people across the US and we’ll explain below all you need to know in order to work out if you can claim this check in 2022 and how to do so.
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Will You Have To Pay Back Money From A Previous Stimulus Check
You might. Heres why: Some people were sent stimulus checks by accident. Whoops! We knowimagine the government making a mistake, right? Heres why you might need to send your money back:
- You make more than the income limit required to receive the stimulus money.
- You were given a check for someone who has died.
- Youre a nonresident alien.
- You dont have a Social Security number.
- Youre claimed as a dependent on someone elses tax return.
If you know one of these applies to you, the IRS expects you to find the error and send the money back to them.12 So go ahead and be honest . You dont want any surprises when you go to file your taxes.
What Should You Do With Your Third Stimulus Check
Lets be real: Three stimulus checks in a year is not normal. This third payment can go a long way to help you catch up on bills, pay off debt, or build up your savings. And for a lot of folks, those stimulus checks have kept food on the table. In our State of Personal Finance study, we found that 41% of people who got a stimulus check used it to pay for necessities like food and bills.
So, based on your situation, heres where you start:
If youre out of work or missing a paycheck, use this stimulus money to protect your Four Walls:
Focus on the necessities so you can have peace of mind as you keep looking for work or get your income back up. That means if youre working the Baby Steps and youre out of work, pause your plan for now. Pile up cash until you have a steady income again. Then you can attack your debt. Theres nothing like fighting through a financial crisis to light your fire to be debt-free as soon as possible!
On the other hand, if your job is safe and you feel like itll stay that way, use your stimulus money to build momentum on whatever Baby Step youre on. Put your debt snowball into overdrive. Knock out your fully funded emergency fund . Or talk to your investment professional about giving your retirement a big boost !
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