Who Will Get The 4th Stimulus Check
Whether youll be receiving a check will be largely determined on a state-by-state basis. For states offering relief, eligibility criteria also comes into play.
States offering some version of a fourth stimulus check generally allocate funds to help the unemployed, front-line workers, families with young children, and other subsets of the state population.
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.
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How Will Child Support Arrears And Payments Be Impacted With Stimulus Check
I seem to be getting a lot of comments on this question around child support. The IRS has confirmed that the stimulus check payment will NOT be offset or intercepted for those owe tax, have a payment agreement or owe other federal or state debts. It will however be OFFSET for past-due child support. This is because a court order for child support continues until it is modified or terminated. Similarly with unemployment compensation stimulus increases, your child support may be withheld from the UI payments. You will get a notice from BFS if this happens.
Fourth Stimulus Check: Who Is Asking For Another Round Of Payments Why They Are Asking And How Likely Is It To Happen
It’s unlikely that a fourth stimulus is in the near future, but there are several groups who believe it is necessary.
While it doesnt appear that a fourth stimulus payment will be in the works anytime soon, there has been, at least, a bit of buzz about the need for another round of payments as Americans struggle to recover amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
And CBS News took a stab at explaining just who and what is behind the push for a fourth stimulus check this week.
And it checks just about all the boxes you might expect.
First, the report breaks down money already paid out through the first three stimulus payments which should come out to $3,200 for 169 million or so Americans. But, CBS points out that money has already been spent and millions of Americans remain in financial distress, and the spread of the Omicron variant is creating new economic headwinds. The report cites Decembers Census survey which reportedly said that a quarter of Americans struggled to pay their household expenses in the previous week. And while the economy has seen gains, CBS also points out that the employment rate 4.2 percent is still above the 3.5-percent that it was at pre-pandemic. It said that number equates to around 2.3-million fewer folks who are working today than prior to the pandemic.
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Support For A Fourth Stimulus Check
A group of Democratic Senators, including Ron Wyden of Oregon, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, sent a letter to President Joe Biden at the end of March requesting “recurring direct payments and automatic unemployment insurance extensions tied to economic conditions.”
As the Senators reasoned in their letter, “this crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. Families should not be at the mercy of constantly-shifting legislative timelines and ad hoc solutions.”
An earlier letter to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris from 53 Representatives, led by Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, carved out a similar position. “Recurring direct payments until the economy recovers will help ensure that people can meet their basic needs, provide racially equitable solutions, and shorten the length of the recession.”
Additional co-signers included New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib, two other notable names among House Progressives. The letter didn’t place a number on the requested stimulus payments. But a tweet soon after put it at $2,000 per month for the length of the pandemic.
$2,000 monthly payments until the pandemic is over.
Ilhan Omar
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.
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Are 4th Stimulus Checks Really Happening
They arebut theyre not coming from the federal government like the last three stimulus checks did. This time, it all depends on what state you live in. Thats right, these fourth stimulus checks are being given out to some folks at the state and city levels now.
Back when the American Rescue Plan rolled out, all 50 states as a whole were given $195 billion to help fund their own economic recovery closer to home.1 Thats a lot of dough. But heres the catchthey dont have forever to spend that money. The states have to figure out what to spend the money on by the end of 2024, and then they have until the end of 2026 to use up all that cash.2 Those deadlines might sound super far away, but the clock is ticking here.
Who Is Eligible For The New Child Tax Credit
All right, qualifying for the new Child Tax Credit is based on several things: your income and the number of dependent children you have, plus their ages. The IRS will base all of this on your 2020 taxes . If you need to make any changes to what they already have on filelike say, oh, you had a sweet new baby or a change of income in 2021you can update your information through the Child Tax Credit Update Portal.
Now, theres a limit to all of this. The Child Tax Credit will start to phase out for incomes over $150,000 for married taxpayers filing a joint return and qualifying widows or widowers, $112,500 for heads of household, and $75,000 for all other taxpayers.7
Lets take a look at the Child Tax Credit Amounts for each age group one more time:
- Ages 05: $3,600
- Ages 617: $3,000
- Ages 1824 : $500
Your dependents will have to meet some basic conditions too. Obviously, theres the whole age thing, but they also need to be dependents that you claim on your taxes. So if you share custody of your children, the increased Child Tax Credit will go to the spouse who is claiming the kids for the 2021 tax year. You cant both claim the same child. And if you do, you might have to repay all or some of it back to the government the next year. That would be a huge bummer, so make sure you have everything figured out between you guys.
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What If I Havent Gotten My Stimulus Check Yet
First, head over to the governments Get My Payment site to check in on your payment status. If it shows the stimulus check was issued to you, but you havent gotten it yet, you can run a payment trace to track it down. If the check wasnt cashed, the IRS will reverse the payment, and youll be able to claim it on your taxes. You can do this through the Recovery Rebate Credit.
If the check was cashed , youll have to make a claim and go through a whole process to get your stimulus money. That really stinks. Sorry in advance if you fall into that category. But with any luck, they should be able to straighten things out for you.
When Could The Stimulus Payments Start
Following approval of the bill on March 11th, millions of Americans will start seeing the third stimulus payments by mid-to-late March 2021 per the estimated IRS payment schedule and official Biden administration guidance. Comments below confirm these are going out now. You can also check the IRS Get May Payment tool for the latest status of your payment. See payment FAQs from the second round of payments, which will also apply for the most part this time around.
Due to the fact that payments are going out in the middle of tax season it may be very hard to get a hold of someone in the IRS to help with payment issues and you will likely have to wait until after April 15th to follow up on issues.
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How Have Americans Spent Their Stimulus Checks
There have been threecount themthree wide-reaching stimulus checks from the government since the pandemic hit. And now that a good chunk of time has gone by since they dished out the first one, were starting to see how people spent that money. Our State of Personal Finance study found that of those who got a stimulus check:
- 41% used it to pay for necessities like food and bills
- 38% saved the money
- 11% spent it on things not considered necessities
- 5% invested the money
And on top of that, heres some good news: Data from the Census Bureau shows that food shortages went down by 40% and financial instability shrank by 45% after the last two stimulus checks.24 Thats a big deal. But the question here isif people are in a better spot now, will they be more likely to manage their money to make sure things stay that way?
Other Help For Social Security Claimants
The Social Security Administration looks at the cost of living and makes any necessary increases to Social Security benefits.
This practice has been going on since the 1950s to offset inflation for people living on a fixed income.
The cost-of-living adjustment for 2022 will see an increase of 5.9%, one of the biggest in history.
That means about 70million Americans will see that monthly increase in their benefits in the new year.
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Fourth Stimulus Check Update: Potential Money Could Soon Arrive Amid Outrageous Gas Prices
Americans have been hit hard by an increase in gas prices due to the ongoing Russian-Ukraine War and inflation, but the Biden Administration is considering sending a form of relief to help offset the costs.
According to FOX Business, the idea of gas rebate cards for Americans has been floated in the White House, as the President and his administration try to find a way to help those who are struggling due to the surge in pricing.
The president has made clear that he is willing to explore all options and hear all ideas that would help lower gas prices for the American people, a White House official said. No decisions have been made.
If cards were issued, it is unclear if they would have cut-offs in terms of eligibility or if there would be different amounts issued to those with different income thresholds.
The idea comes as the national average gas price sits at $4.98 a gallon, according to AAA. While that is a decrease from a week ago, when prices reached a record average high of $5.01 a gallon, it is still a never-before-seen high. California remains at the highest average price per gallon in the country at $6.40, while Nevada and Alaska both sit at over $5.60 per gallon on average. Illinois, Oregon, Hawaii and Washington all sit over $5.50 a gallon average, and Arizona, Idaho and Michigan round out the top 10 of most expensive averages. The cheapest average gas in the country is in Georgia, at $4.48 per gallon.
Direct Payments Reach People Who Need Immediate Aid
Direct payments, in particular, help those who do not qualify for unemployment insurance but have had their hours reduced or left their job to care for family members during the pandemic, economists have said.
Direct payments have helped alleviate poverty in the U.S., and a fourth stimulus check alone would lift 6.6 million people out poverty in 2021, according to a recent report from Elaine Maag and Kevin Werner at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
“Housing instability and food insecurity remain concerns for many, and an additional payment could help with both,” Maag writes to CNBC Make It in an email, noting that Black and Hispanic families with children feel the pain more acutely than other households. “Studies on how other economic impact payments were spent indicate people spent the money on necessities like food, housing and bills.”
That said, with the vaccine rollout chugging along and more states lifting coronavirus restrictions, it is not clear if the progressive lawmakers will be able to sell the idea to their more moderate or conservative colleagues.
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Fourth Stimulus Check Update: New Assistance Could Reach Americans Heres How
The federal government has signaled no interest in issuing another round of stimulus checks, but some aid is going to be arriving to some Americans in other formsand a large number of citizens could soon be looking at a long-awaited form of assistance.
On a state level, Maine is giving residents an influx of cash come June-with $850 checks set to be sent out to approximately 858,000 residents. Additional rounds will be sent throughout the end of the year. In order to receive checks, they must be a full-time resident in Maine and have filed a 2021 individual income tax return. A single filer must also earn less than $100,000 a year, a head of household must make under $150,000 and a couple filing jointly must earn less than $200,000 in order to qualify.
Meanwhile, Gov. Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania has renewed calls for a state stimulus check for his residents, urging state legislators this week to use $500 million of unspent federal aid in the state to send $2,000 checks to residents.
However, residents of other states in the U.S. arent set to receive such aid, but those with student loan debt could soon see a reprieve that they have been waiting for since President Joe Biden took office.
The move is coming after the administration extended the COVID-19 loan forbearance once more, with payments set to resume for borrowers beginning on August 31.
Representation. A COVID-19 stimulus check.Photo: Pixabay
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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Will There Be A Fourth Stimulus Check From The Government
Some lawmakers are already starting to push for another stimulus check to help Americans who are struggling to rebuild after COVID-19 and its economic impact. And with a surge in cases and the Delta variant taking hold, will a fourth stimulus check happen for everyone? Hard to say. A lot of people didnt think wed see a third stimulus checkand yet here we are.
With the economy and jobs both on the upswing, the need for a stimulus check is way less than it was at the start of the pandemic. And that might mean there wont be a fourth stimulus check for every American. So dont go checking your bank account.