It has been almost a year since Congress passed and the president signed the last stimulus package that sent money to Americans. Now, it appears that a long-awaited second stimulus package will pass this weekend and with it will be more money for Americans that may be most affected by the coronavirus situation that has crushed so many aspects of the economy. Here is what it looks like right now.
New Stimulus Checks Coming Soon?
I will say up front – I know this is a highly charged issue since it involves the government giving out money. The truth is that many businesses, especially small businesses, have been really hurt through closures that were ordered by local or state governments or by their regular patrons not having the money to shop with them.
This has affected the workers and owners at these businesses so that we now have many Americans that have been out of work in spite of certain aspects of the economy starting to rebuild. While this new stimulus package is certainly not going to be a huge help to many, it may help many get through the end of the year and the beginning of 2021.
How Much Could You Get from the New Stimulus Package?
Congress has worked out agreements on many parts of the $900 billion package and this includes payments to Americans. The structure will follow the same tiers that the last stimulus package did, namely a roll off after $75,000 for those that file a single payer and $150,000 for those that file as a couple on yearly taxes (for 2019 or 2018 – whichever was the last one that the IRS has processed).
But, unlike the last stimulus package, the max per person will be $600 per person instead of $1,200 per adult. This represents a 50% cut for couples but the good news is that it will be $600 for everyone under the income limits, including adult dependents like college students. These students were unable to receive anything in the last stimulus package since it did not offer payments for dependents over 17 years of age.
This means that couples that file jointly and had an adjusted gross income of less than $150,000 in 2019 will receive $1,200, plus $600 per dependent.
A single filer that had an adjusted gross income of less than $75,000 in 2019 will receive $600, plus $600 per dependent.
Over those AGI numbers, there will be a cut-down in the amount that will be received until the cut-off point of $99,000 for a single filer and $198,000 filer – at that point, there will be nothing received.
When Will The New Stimulus Checks Be Sent?
Congress is working on this and the larger spending bill through the weekend with the expectation that it will be passed in this time. The president will sign that after that happens and the IRS has said they can start getting payments out quickly in the same way they did in the spring, because the infrastructure for these payments are in place.
That means that if you have received the last payment by direct deposit, you could see it in the next couple of weeks, should it pass. If you received the last payment as a check, it may take longer.
I will post a new post when this actually does get passed with instructions on what you will need to do to receive it as direct deposit.
