Elderly And Disabled People
Most senior citizens will qualify for a check, just as they did during the first two rounds. One change will mean that some seniors who were excluded last year will be eligible this time.
Under the first two rounds of payments, seniors and disabled adults were eligible for a check as long as no one else claimed them as a dependent. If so, they didnt qualify. For example, if a disabled adult lived at home with his or her parents and the parents claimed him or her as a dependent on their income taxes, the disabled adult didnt get a check.
This time, seniors and disabled adults who are claimed as dependents by someone else will be eligible for a check.
Advocacy groups for the elderly pushed for Congress to make senior dependents eligible for the payments, arguing that it would provide much-needed relief to families who often face both a heavy emotional and financial cost attending to the needs of an older adult.
Expanding the definition of eligible dependents will mean that as many as 26 million more people could qualify for a check, said Kyle Pomerleau, a tax policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute.
Your stimulus package questions answered here:COVID-19 relief package: $1,400 checks, $300 bonus for federal unemployment benefits
Are Adult Dependents Getting Third Stimulus Checks
The new stimulus plan expands eligibility to adult dependents, including college students, elderly relatives and disabled adults.
The text of the plan redefines the term dependent according to section 152 of the tax code, which includes both qualifying children and adults: Section 152 provides that the term dependent means a qualifying child ) or a qualifying relative ).
While the plan pays out $1,400 for each qualifying dependent, families should keep in mind that the targeted lower income ranges exclude them if they earn over $160,000.
For reference, the second stimulus checks provided additional $600 payments for qualifying dependents under the age of 17. So a couple filing jointly with three eligible children could get a maximum second payment of $3,000 .
Under the first and second rounds of stimulus checks, children and adult dependents over the age limit could not get an additional payment, and they did not qualify for a stimulus check of their own either.
With the new stimulus plan, however, both joint filers and heads of household get an additional $1,400 payment for each dependent, regardless of age. The table below breaks down the third stimulus checks for heads of household with one dependent:
| Stimulus Checks for Heads of Household & 1 Dependent |
| AGI |
| $120,000 and up | $0 |
Can I Track My Payment
The IRS reopened its “Get My Payment” website following the passage of the American Rescue Plan, allowing people to track when they might receive their stimulus checks. The IRS created this portal last year for the $1,200 stimulus checks directed by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act.
When people check the “Get My Payment” site for the new $1,400 checks, they typically see one of several messages.
First, some people will see that their payment has been processed, along with a payment date and whether the payment will be sent via direct deposit or mail. If a check is sent by mail, the IRS will either send a paper check or a pre-paid debit card.
Others may see a message that they are eligible, but their payment hasn’t been processed and therefore there’s no payment date available.
You May Like: When Will The Next Stimulus Check Come
Are $2000 Monthly Stimulus Checks Possible
In response to President Biden’s American Jobs Plan proposal, a group of 21 senators on March 30 sent a letter urging the inclusion of stimulus checks in the legislation. The group called for recurring payments as long as the pandemic lockdown continued, meaning people would get monthly checks from the government. No amount for the payments was specified.
We urge you to include recurring direct payments and automatic unemployment insurance extensions tied to economic conditions in your Build Back Better long-term economic plan, wrote the group, which consisted of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and others.
An earlier stimulus check proposal, put forward during the early days of the American Rescue Plan in late January, also suggested monthly payments until the pandemic is over, but did not mention an amount. However, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, tweeted earlier in January that she wanted to see $2,000 per month.
If that amount sounds familiar, it’s because now-Vice President Kamala Harris threw her support behind $2,000 recurring checks during the negotiations for the second stimulus check legislation in the summer of 2020.
The proposal has also gained plenty of support outside of Congress: Six online petitions calling for $2,000 monthly stimulus checks until the end of the pandemic have been posted. The biggest petition, on Change.org, has been signed by more than 2.8 million people and has a stated goal of reaching 3 million.
What If I Didn’t Get The Right Amount
Some people may get their checks quickly, yet discover the payment amount is incorrect that could be due to their dependents or changes in income.
The law provides $1,400 per adult and dependent, as long as the household income falls below the income threshold for eligibility. In the current bill, single people whose adjusted gross income was below $75,000 and married couples with income below $150,000 will receive their full payments, as well as their dependents. Payments decline for earnings above that, cutting off entirely for single people earning $80,000 and $160,000 for married couples.
But some people may not get the right amount, especially if they haven’t yet filed their 2020 tax returns, given that the IRS extended the tax deadline until May 17. For instance, if a family had a baby last year but hasn’t yet filed their 2020 returns, the IRS would base their payments on their 2019 returns which wouldn’t include their new baby. In that case, the family would receive $2,800 for themselves, but not the extra $1,400 for their child.
For instance, the most recent batch of checks issued this week include “plus-up” payments for people who received checks based on their 2019 tax returns but who have since filed their 2020 tax returns and are owed more. The agency said such extra payments could reflect a loss of income in 2020, which could entitle the tax filers to more stimulus money, or if they had a child last year.
Don’t Miss: What Is Going On With The Second Stimulus Check
What If My Mailing Address Changed Since I Received My Previous Stimulus Checks How Will I Get My Third Stimulus Check
If you are expecting to receive your third stimulus check by mail, it will be mailed to the last address you filed with the IRS. If your address has changed since then, there are different options you can take to make sure your stimulus check gets to you:
Option 1: File your 2020 federal tax return to update your address. If you havent filed your 2020 tax return yet, this is an easy way to update your address. File a tax return with your current address and your payment will be sent through the mail once the IRS receives your updated address.
Option 2: Provide your banking information in the IRS Get My Payment tool. If the post office was unable to deliver your stimulus check, it will be returned to the IRS. Two to three weeks after the payment has been issued, Get My Payment will display the message Need More Information. You will have the option to have your payment reissued as a direct deposit by providing your banking information.
If you dont provide your banking information, the IRS will mail your payment once your address is updated.
Option 3: Notify the IRS that your address has changed by telephone, an IRS form, or a written statement. It can take 4-6 weeks for the IRS to process your request.
Are We Getting A New Stimulus Check
Weve laid out in multiple posts just who is getting new ones. There are plenty of people who are getting new stimulus checks. But remember, which ones are we really counting as full ones or which ones are child tax credits? Also, states are dishing out money to specific workers as well. If youre a teacher in Michigan who worked in the school last year, youre getting money and so forth.
For the largest city in the world, New York City is putting forth a plan to put its COVID-related funds to good use. $65 million is going to the taxicab industry. 1,8000 New York-based artists could be receiving a one-time, $5,000 grant. That will come by the end of this month. New York City received $6 billion in COVID federal aid money. The money will also be sent trying to tackle the homelessness crisis in the city. Plus, money will be allocated to vaccine distributions.
Recommended Reading: Next Batch Of Stimulus Payments
Stimulus Check Eligibility: Who Will Get The Stimulus Check
If you were eligible for the full amount of the first and second stimulus checks, you will likely also be eligible for the third stimulus check, but not everyone who got smaller checks in the first two rounds will receive money this time.
In the first two stimulus bills, people who earned $75,000 or less per year according to their most recent tax returns qualified for the entire stimulus check. Joint filers who earned up to $150,000 per year were also eligible for the entire amount.
People who earned more than those amounts received a prorated amount that was reduced by $5 for every $100 of income above the threshold. This time around, the amount will be reduced by $28 for every $100 of income above the threshold.
If you made between $75,000 and $80,000 on your last tax return, multiply every dollar above $75,000 by 0.28. Take the resulting number and subtract it from $1,400. The result will be the size of your stimulus check.
So if you make $77,000, the amount to multiply by 0.28 would be $2,000. That comes to $560. Subtract that from $1,400 and you get $840. We have a link to a stimulus check calculator.
Because the payment amounts were different between the first two bills, the income cutoff to get any money at all was $99,000 for single filers for the first check, but only $87,000 in the second check. The cutoffs were double those amounts for joint filers.
In the third bill, the cutoff will be $80,000 per year for single filers and $160,000 per year for joint filers.
When Will You Get The Third Stimulus Check
Officials at the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service said Friday that processing of the new round of stimulus payments has already begun, with the aim of having the first payments start showing up in bank accounts this weekend.
The IRS said Friday that additional waves of payments will be sent in the coming weeks by direct deposit and through the mail as a check or debit card. The agency added that contacting the IRS or your financial institutions won’t get you your check any sooner.
A date has yet to be set for when those receiving Social Security and other federal beneficiaries will get their money. Though the IRS said those Americans will generally receive the third payment the same way as their regular benefits.
Recommended Reading: Irs Wheres My Stimulus Payment
Still Don’t Have A Stimulus Check Here’s How To Track Yours
May 12, 2021 / 3:35 PM / MoneyWatch
While major banks in the U.S. started delivering $1,400 stimulus checks in March, the federal relief payments continue to arrive at millions of households struggling to make ends meet amid the coronavirus-hobbled economy.
The Internal Revenue Service has delivered more than 165 million payments, with a total value of approximately $388 billion, the agency said Wednesday. The latest round includes 1 million payments, with the IRS noting they have an official payment date of May 12. That means the most recent recipients will receive a direct deposit on Wednesday, or soon get a paper check or pre-paid debit card in the mail.
The timing and delivery of checks has been a cause of anxiety for some people, especially for those who receive government benefits such as Social Security and don’t typically file taxes. The IRS prioritized sending checks to people who have already filed their 2019 or 2020 tax returns, since the agency was able to quickly verify eligibility based on income and also determine where to mail or direct deposit the checks.
The agency said it’s sending another 500,000 payments to eligible people who recently filed a tax return but for whom it didn’t previously have information to issue a stimulus check.
Can A Debt Collector Take My Stimulus Check
Child support, taxes, and other debts to the federal government are exempt from garnishment, but a private debt collector can try to take your stimulus payment. While previous rounds of aid prohibited debt collectors from garnishing stimulus payments, that protection was not included in this third round.
Congress may consider new, separate legislation to shield this round of payments from debt collectors.
Recommended Reading: What Were The Stimulus Check Amounts
What If I Owe Child Support Payments Back Taxes Money To Creditors Or Debt Collectors Or Federal Or State Debt
None of the three stimulus checks can be reduced to pay any federal or state debts and back taxes. Unlike the first stimulus check, your second and third stimulus check cannot be reduced if you owe past-due child support payments.
| Federal or State Debt | |
| Protected | Not protected |
If you are claiming the payments as part of your 2020 tax refund , the payments are no longer protected from past-due child support payments, creditor and debt collectors, and other federal or state debt that you owe . In other words, if you receive your first or second stimulus checks as part of your tax refund instead of direct checks, it may be reduced.
Could Tax Season Slow Down Stimulus Check Delivery
Since a third stimulus check is likely to drop in the middle of tax season , the IRS may have to calculate your total based on the most recent tax filing it has which would be 2020. This could disqualify some people from getting a third stimulus payment.
If you’re owed money, you might have to wait a year to claim it, until you file your 2021 taxes in 2022, according to the latest proposal under consideration.
Don’t Miss: Where’s My Stimulus Check Ssi
How Much Money Will I Get From The Third Stimulus Check
Most households that received an earlier stimulus check will get one again, but the amounts are different this time. The baseline:
- $1,400 to each adult
- $1,400 to each dependent meaning, anyone claimed on a tax return, including older adults, disabled adults, and child dependents of any age
- For example, a family of four could potentially receive $5,600
The dependent eligibility is different from the second stimulus check, but there are a lot of caveats to be aware of. Its important to read through the information on the IRS website or this CNN article. A few important highlights:
- Dependents dont receive their own stimulus checks funds are sent to the household
- If you share custody of a dependent, both you and the other parent could get stimulus checks, depending on how you file your taxes
- You are still eligible to receive a stimulus check if you owe child support
- If you have more or fewer dependents since the last time you filed taxes for instance, a new child was born into your family you should update your number of dependents by filing your 2020 tax return
Payments will be sent out in a few weeks via direct deposit, as physical checks, or via Economic Impact Payment debit cards.
Tip: Signing up for direct deposit with the IRS could help you get your refund even faster than waiting for a check or Economic Impact Payment debit card to arrive in the mail.
Fourth Stimulus Check: Are More Payments Coming
A fourth stimulus check from the government could take one of two forms: monthly checks in fairly small amounts, or one-time payments of up to $2,000.
Both options have been put forward by legislators in Congress as follow-ups to the third round of pandemic relief payments, which were made possible by the American Rescue Plan Act of March 2021.
The U.S. economy is still recovering, with slow but steady job growth even as unemployment numbers hold steady and the Delta variant of COVID-19 causes hospitalization rates to soar.
The federal moratorium on evictions ended Aug. 26 with a Supreme Court ruling, and millions now face losing their homes. Inflation, however, appears to be on the rise, contributing to fears among economists and lawmakers that further stimulus payments could only fuel more price hikes.
As a result, there’s no legislation in Congress that’s likely to pass that would create a fourth round of stimulus payments, even though some Democratic lawmakers have called on President Joe Biden to consider recurring payments.
The White House has passed back the buck, stating that the president would consider whatever Congress comes up with.
At the end of July, Rep. Ilhan Omar , introduced a bill that would send $1,200 to each American making less than $75,000 per year, forever. But it has not moved forward in the House of Representatives and has little chance of passing.
Don’t Miss: Stimulus Check Where’s My Payment