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SECOND STIMULUS CHECKS: WHEN YOU’LL GET THEM, AND HOW TO TRACK THEM

Arturo Conde, CEPF® Feb 04, 2021
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Eight million Americans could still qualify for first and second rounds of
stimulus checks and may have not yet received their money. President Joe Biden
signed an executive order on January 22 that tasks the Treasury Department with
getting relief to millions of eligible recipients who did not get financial
assistance. If you expected a stimulus payment, let’s break down what the $900
billion economic relief and government funding bill paid out, why you may have
not gotten your stimulus check, what you can do to claim it and how it can
impact your taxes.



This is a developing story. We will continue to update the article as soon as
more information becomes available. You can find information
about President-elect Joe Biden’s additional $1,400 stimulus payment in our
article about third stimulus checks. 




TIMELINE OF SECOND STIMULUS CHECKS

 * December 27, 2020: President Trump signs the new COVID-19 relief package into
   law, and the bill currently includes a second round of stimulus checks that
   pay up to $600.
 * December 28, 2020: House Democrats vote to raise the second stimulus payment
   up to $2,000, but the Republican-led Senate refuses to vote on it,
   effectively killing the increase.
 * December 29, 2020: The IRS announces that it is sending out the second round
   of stimulus checks to millions of Americans. Direct deposits to banks go out
   first, followed by paper checks and prepaid debit cards.
 * January 6, 2021: Republicans lose control of the Senate after Democrats win
   runoff election in Georgia. Senators-elect Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff vow
   to increase stimulus checks, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris can now
   cast a tie-breaking vote for Democrat-led bills after taking office on
   January 20, 2021.
 * January 6, 2021: Intuit TurboTax announces via Twitter that millions of
   taxpayers who filed 2019 taxes with them had second stimulus payments
   delayed. The tax preparation software company updates two days later that
   those delayed payments are now getting deposited in the same bank account
   where taxpayers received 2019 refunds.
 * January 7, 2021: The U.S. Department of Treasury and the IRS announce that
   approximately eight million people are getting second stimulus checks via
   prepaid debit cards.
 * January 15, 2021: Cutoff date for the $900 billion COVID-19 relief package
   mandates that all second stimulus payments be sent out by mid-month. Eligible
   recipients who do not get a payment by then have to claim it as a recovery
   rebate credit on their 2020 taxes.
 * January 22, 2021: President Biden signs an executive order asking the
   Treasury Department to get relief for eight million Americans “who still have
   not received the financial assistance to which they are entitled.”


WHEN WILL I GET MY CHECK AND HOW CAN I TRACK IT?




The $900 billion stimulus bill required the IRS to send all second stimulus
checks by January 15, 2021. Eligible recipients who did not get a payment by the
cutoff date now have to claim their money as a Recovery Rebate Credit on their
2020 tax return (which needs to be filed by April 15, 2021).

The Treasury Department estimates that eight million eligible recipients may not
have gotten their first or second stimulus checks. And President Biden signed an
executive order on January 22 tasking the department with the “equitable and
effective delivery of direct payments” to all of those qualifying recipients.

The IRS has made stimulus payments via direct deposit, paper check and economic
impact payment (EIP) card. The first direct deposit payments arrived as early as
December 29, 2020. Paper checks started getting mailed on December 30, 2020, and
the IRS has sent out approximately eight million prepaid debit cards loaded with
the federal stimulus payments. You can follow up on the status of both your
first and second checks by using the “Get My Payment” portal.

People who get Social Security retirement benefits, Social Security
survivor benefits, Social Security disability benefits, Supplemental Security
Income (SSI), Railroad Retirement benefits and VA benefits were able to receive
second stimulus checks via direct deposit as long as they had their bank account
on file with the IRS.

You were also eligible to get a direct deposit payment as long as you
successfully registered for the first stimulus check online with the IRS’s
Non-Filers tool by November 21, 2020, or completed a simplified tax return that
has been processed by the IRS.

Note that many taxpayers who filed their 2019 tax returns with Intuit TurboTax,
had their second stimulus payments delayed. The tax preparation software company
posted via Twitter on January 6, 2021, that: “Unfortunately, because of an IRS
error, millions of payments were sent to the wrong accounts and some may not
have received their stimulus payment.” TurboTax has since updated that it has
emailed eligible customers to confirm when their stimulus payments were sent.

If you didn’t file a tax return and missed the Non-Filer’s tool registration
deadline, you can also claim stimulus payments as a recovery rebate
credit. Qualifying taxpayers who did not get the full amount of their stimulus
payment could use the credit to increase their tax refund or lower their tax
bill.

Keep in mind that you can still get stimulus payments even if you owe tax money.
Unlike your tax refunds, the agency can only use your COVID-19 relief checks to
offset your federal or state tax debts if you are past due on child support.

The IRS also sent out notices (Notice 1444-A and Notice 1444-B) to eligible
recipients breaking down the payment amounts for the first two stimulus checks.
These letters explain how payments were delivered and what to do if you did not
get one.

For a comparison, the first electronic stimulus payments started going out to
Americans on April 11, almost three weeks after the Cares Act was signed into
law, and most of them arrived by April 15. A report from The Committee on Ways
and Means says that almost 159 million stimulus payments were delivered by June
5, 2020.


IS MY SECOND STIMULUS CHECK TAXABLE?

The IRS does not consider stimulus checks taxable income. This means that you do
not have to report them on your tax return or pay income taxes on either check.

Eligible recipients who did not get the first or second stimulus checks can
claim a recovery rebate credit to increase their tax refund or lower their tax
liability. So if you are expecting to get money back on your 2020 tax return,
your refund could get a big boost depending on how much stimulus money the
government owes you.

And comparatively, if you expect to owe taxes on your 2020 return, then you can
use your recovery rebate credit to offset your tax bill and get a refund for the
remaining amount.

Many taxpayers this year are looking to their tax refunds to get extra money for
their finances. For reference, the average tax refund in 2020 was more than
$2,500. The IRS expects over 150 million tax returns to be filed this year.

The 2021 tax season will begin on February 12. And taxpayers will need to file
their 2020 returns by April 15.


HOW IS MY SECOND STIMULUS CHECK CALCULATED?

The IRS relies on your tax return to calculate whether you qualify for the
second stimulus check. So your eligibility was based on your 2019 tax returns,
which you filed by July 15, 2020.

According to the text released by Congressional leaders, the COVID-19 relief
bill notes those with an adjusted gross income (AGI) over certain limits receive
a reduced amount of money, with the checks phasing out entirely at higher
incomes.

Your AGI is calculated by subtracting the deductions that you made during the
tax year (these can include college loan interest, health savings account
payments and contributions to a traditional IRA) from your gross income (this
includes wages, dividends, capital gains, business income and other types of
income).

Here’s a quick breakdown of the AGI limits for the $600 stimulus checks:

 * Single filer checks begin to phase out at AGIs above $75,000.
 * Married and joint filer checks start phasing out at joint AGIs over $150,000.
 * Head of household checks start getting phased out at incomes over $112,500.

The IRS reduces stimulus payments by 5% for the total amount that you made over
the AGI limit. This means that for every $100 that you make over the limit, your
check goes down by $5. At high enough incomes, the checks phase out entirely. So
if you earned over $87,000 as an individual taxpayer, $174,000 as a joint filer,
or $124,500 as a head of household, you do not get a stimulus payment. The
following calculator allows you to calculate your benefit amount:



This second round of stimulus checks is currently half the maximum amount of the
first stimulus checks that were included in the CARES Act in March.


WHO QUALIFIES FOR THE SECOND STIMULUS CHECK?



The IRS has set AGI limits to determine taxpayer eligibility. The ranges for the
second stimulus check are broken down as follows:

 * Individuals with AGI of $75,000 or less qualify to get the full $600 second
   stimulus check. Individuals making more than $75,000 and up to $87,000
   receive a reduced amount.
 * Married couples filing jointly with AGI of $150,000 or less qualify to get
   the full $600, and those making more than $150,000 and up to $174,000 receive
   a reduced amount.
 * Heads of household with AGI of $112,500 or less qualify for the full $600,
   and those making over $112,500 and up to $124,500 get a reduced amount.

Note that the second stimulus checks also provide an additional $600 payment for
every qualifying dependent under the age of 17. So if you filed your taxes as a
married couple with three children, you could get up to $3,000.

Currently, there’s no limit on the number of dependents that you can claim as
long as they are within the age requirement and you claimed them on your tax
return. But keep in mind that if you claimed your child as a dependent and they
are over age 17, you are not eligible to receive $600 extra on your stimulus
check. Your child does not qualify for a stimulus check of their own either.

The table below breaks down payments by AGI level for single and joint filers:

Second Stimulus Checks for Single and Joint Filers  Single AGI Payment Joint AGI
Payment $75,000 $600 $150,000  $1,200 $77,400 $480 $154,800  $960 $79,800 $360
$159,600 $720 $82,200 $240 $164,400 $480 $84,600 $120 $169,200 $240 $87,000 and
up $0 $174,000 and up $0

Here’s a breakdown of what a stimulus check looks like for a head of household
with one child:

Second Stimulus Checks for Heads of Household & 1 Child AGI Payment $112,500
$1,200 $116,500 $1,000 $120,500 $800 $124,500 $600 $128,500 $400 $132,500 $200
$136,500 and up $0

For the first round of stimulus checks, married couples who earned less than
$150,000 received up to $2,400 (with phase-outs up to AGI of $198,000), and
heads of household who made less than $112,500 got up to $1,200 (with phase-outs
up to $146,500).




ADDITIONAL STIMULUS CHECK QUALIFICATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS

The IRS currently excludes “nonresident aliens,” college students, seniors, and
other adults dependents over the age of 17, as well as estates or trusts from
receiving the second stimulus check.

You should note, however, that “resident aliens” with valid Social Security
numbers for employment can now qualify for stimulus payments as long as they are
not claimed as dependents by another taxpayer.

The $900 billion COVID-19 relief package extends eligibility for the second
stimulus check to joint tax filers with one undocumented spouse. And this change
allows mixed-status families, which include members with different citizenship
or immigration statuses, to qualify for additional child dependent payments.

Under the bipartisan bill, eligibility is also given retroactively for the first
stimulus checks. Mixed-status families can claim $1,200 for joint tax filers and
an additional $500 payment for each qualifying child.

President Biden’s plan proposes maintaining eligibility for mixed-status
households.


HOW DO FIRST AND SECOND STIMULUS CHECKS COMPARE?

The CARES Act paid up to $1,200 for each qualifying person, but the new COVID
relief package currently pays half of that – up to $600 for qualifying
individuals. The table below shows how the first stimulus checks were broken
down for single and joint filers:

First Stimulus Checks for Single and Joint Filers  Single AGI Payment Joint AGI
Payment $75,000 $1,200 $150,000  $2,400 $80,000 $950 $160,000  $1,900 $85,000
$700 $170,000 $1,400 $90,000 $450 $180,000 $900 $95,000 $200 $190,000 $400
$99,000 and up $0 $198,000 and up $0

Both stimulus checks also include extra payments for families with dependents
under the age of 17. The second stimulus check pays $600 per qualifying
dependent, whereas the first check paid $500. The table below shows a comparison
of first and second stimulus checks for heads of household with one child:

Stimulus Check Comparison for Heads of Household & 1 Child   AGI Level First
Stimulus Payment AGI Level Second Stimulus Payment $112,500 $1,700 $112,500
 $1,200 $117,500 $1,450 $116,500  $1,000 $122,500 $1,200 $120,500 $800 $127,500
$950 $124,500 $600 $132,500 $700 $128,500 $400 $142,500 $200 $132,500 $200
$146,500 and up $0 $136,500 and up $0

Note that neither of the stimulus checks count towards your taxable income for
the 2020 tax year, and they are not seen as an advance on your 2020 tax refund.
Stimulus checks are also not a loan, so the federal government is not expecting
that money to be repaid.

For a comparison on how stimulus payments are spent, the Federal Reserve Bank of
New York says that only 29% of households that received the first stimulus
checks spent them by June 2020, while 36% saved them and 35% used them to pay
down debt. This trend could indicate that recipients of second stimulus checks
are even less likely to spend them and more likely to pay down debt.

Use SmartAsset’s second stimulus check calculator to figure out how much you
could get.


IS A $2,000 STIMULUS CHECK STILL POSSIBLE?

Republicans lost control of the Senate after two Democrats – Raphael Warnock and
Jon Ossoff – won Georgia runoff elections on January 6, 2021. This divides the
Senate 50-50 evenly between both parties, and gives Vice President-elect Kamala
Harris the tie-breaking vote for Democrats, which support a stimulus check
increase.

The U.S. Constitution authorizes the Vice President to vote as a tie-breaker in
the Senate. This means that Democrats can effectively regain control of the
chamber and pass a stimulus payment increase after Vice President-elect Harris
takes office on January 20, 2021 and can cast a tie-breaking vote as the
presiding officer of the Senate.

House Democrats initially voted to increase the second stimulus payment one day
after President Trump signed the $900 billion coronavirus relief package on
December 27, 2020. But former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused a
Senate vote for the $2,000 increase, effectively killing the proposal.

Senator Chuck Schumer (now the majority leader) tried to pass the House bill
increase through a unanimous consent request, which requires the support of all
Senate members, on December 29, 2020. But Senator McConnell blocked it. This is
the second time that Democrats were unable to get unanimous support for the
$2,000 stimulus increase.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initially called to increase stimulus payments via
unanimous consent after President Trump delayed signing the bill into law. And
she could not get the support of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and all
House members that is required for this procedure to pass.

Congress officially passed the new COVID-19 relief bill with bipartisan support
on December 21, 2020. But President Trump delayed the bill, pressuring for a
stimulus payment increase up to $2,000.

The bill currently pays out a second stimulus check up to $600 per person. And
its approval was important to avert a government shutdown, and restore expanded
unemployment benefits that lapsed for millions of Americans after December 26,
2020.

The COVID-19 relief package was passed with an omnibus spending bill that funds
the federal government. And the President’s refusal to sign the bill into law
could have led to a government shutdown. The interim spending bill that funded
the government was set to expire on December 28, 2020.

Many Senate Republicans oppose another stimulus increase because of the growing
cost of the bill. However, you should note that some Republican senators support
President Trump’s call for raising the second stimulus check up to $2,000, and
they could help decide future votes on other COVID-19 relief package proposals.

President Biden presented a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package on January
14 with and additional stimulus payment of $1,400. But it is unclear how quickly
Congress will be able to vote on the new American Rescue Plan.


WHAT COULD A $2,000 STIMULUS CHECK LOOK LIKE?

Assuming that Congress votes for a similar increase like the House-approved CASH
Act, which raises $600 stimulus checks up to $2,000 for single filers, and up to
$4,000 for joint filers, the table below shows a possible breakdown by AGI
level:

$2,000 Stimulus Checks for Single and Joint Filers  Single AGI Payment Joint AGI
Payment $75,000 $2,000 $150,000  $4,000 $83,000 $1,600 $166,000  $3,200 $91,000
$1,200 $182,000 $2,400 $99,000 $800 $198,000 $1,600 $107,0000 $400 $214,000 $800
$115,000 and up $0 $230,000 and up $0

Note that if the IRS continues to reduce stimulus payments by 5% for the total
amount that you made over the AGI limit (meaning that your check goes down $5
for every $100 over the limit), then single filers phase out entirely with an
AGI of $115,000 and up, and joint filers phase out entirely with an AGI of
$230,000 and up.

This possible stimulus increase could also remove the age limit that currently
prevents college students, seniors, and other dependents 17 and older from
claiming an additional payment. The CASH Act changed the definition of eligible
dependents from “qualifying children (within the meaning of section 24(c))” to
“dependents (as defined in section 152)”. Under this section, the term
“dependent” means “qualifying child” or “qualifying relative.”

So if the government approves an increase that is similar to the CASH Act, both
joint filers and heads of household could get an additional $2,000 payment for
each dependent, regardless of age. This means that joint filers could get up to
$4,000 as long as they don’t exceed the $150,000 AGI limit, and an additional
$2,000 for each qualifying child or relative. And Heads of household could get
the extra $2,000 per dependent as long as they do not exceed the AGI limit of
$112,500.

The table below compares the current $600 stimulus check with a possible $2,000
payment for Heads of Household with one dependent:

Stimulus Check Comparison for Heads of Household & 1 Dependent  AGI Level $600
Stimulus Payment AGI Level $2,000 Stimulus Payment $112,500 $1,200 $112,500
 $4,000 $116,500  $1,000 $126,500  $3,300 $120,500 $800 $140,500 $2,600 $127,500
$600 $154,500 $1,900 $132,500 $400 $168,500 $1,200 $142,500 $200 $182,500 $500
$146,500 and up $0 $192,500 and up $0


BOTTOM LINE

President Trump signed the $900 billion economic relief and government funding
bill on December 27, 2020. The second stimulus checks for the COVID-19 relief
package are set to total $600 per person, with phase outs based on adjusted
gross income limits that are similar to the first relief package. Families also
get additional $600 payments for each qualifying dependent under age 17. The IRS
relies on your tax return to determine eligibility and calculate how much you
could get. Payments have already gone out via direct deposit, paper check and
economic impact payment (EIP) card. Eligible recipients who did not get payment
by the cutoff date have to claim it as a recovery rebate credit on their 2020
taxes. President Biden signed an executive order on January 22 that compels the
Treasury Department to deliver first and second stimulus checks to eight million
eligible recipients who never got payments.

If you need financial help, it’s important to keep up with the latest
developments so you can know what type of aid you could qualify for. We will
continue to update this article as soon as new information becomes available.
You can also find other relief programs at the federal government help
center and our list of coronavirus relief programs by state.


TIPS FOR INDIVIDUALS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

 * A financial advisor can help you invest your money – including stimulus
   checks, tax refunds and other windfalls. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you
   with financial advisors in your area in just five minutes. If you’re ready to
   be matched with local advisors who can help you achieve your financial
   goals, get started now.
 * If you are struggling to keep up with loan or credit card payments, you can
   take steps to protect your credit score and speak with your bank directly to
   see whether you can defer loan payments or waive certain fees.
 * If you can afford it, investing in index funds during a recession is a safe
   option. But if you’re looking for a slightly more aggressive approach, check
   out some free investment classes to learn more.

Photo Credit: ©iStock.com/Diy13, ©iStock.com/Dean Mitchell, ©iStock.com/DjelicS,
©iStock.com/photovs

Arturo Conde, CEPF® Arturo Conde is an editor at SmartAsset and a bilingual
freelance journalist. He writes for NBC News and WhoWhatWhy. His articles have
been published in Fusion, Univision, City Limits and the NACLA Report on the
Americas.
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