A second round of stimulus checks could soon end up in millions of Americans’ bank accounts after President Donald Trump signed a $ 900 billion economic emergency package on Sunday night. Yet Mr. During the signing of the bill, Trump again asked for his $ 600 stimulus checks to take place increase to $ 2,000 per person.
On Monday, the House will vote on increasing the amount of emergency relief checks to $ 2,000 per adult and $ 600 for children. The Senate must also “start the process for a vote that raises the checks to $ 2,000,” he said. Trump said Sunday.
The president’s last call for larger stimulus investigations jeopardized the emergency relief package, given that Mr. Trump indicated that he would not sign the bill without the $ 2,000 that each adult was entitled to. But now that the president has signed the bill – which still commands the federal government to send out $ 600 individual incentive payments – it raises questions about whether Americans could still deposit a higher amount into their bank accounts.
To be sure, millions of Americans can use larger checks. Nearly six in ten consumers said they had a financial setback at the end of November due to the pandemic, according to a recent study by TransUnion, which also found that 40% of households were going bankrupt, with the prospect of more a stimulus test. to help them pay their bills.
According to Wall Street analysts, it is likely that people will still receive $ 600 checks.
This is because Congress will have to approve a separate bill to increase stimulus checks – and it is unlikely that enough Republican lawmakers will vote in favor of higher payments, according to Hunter Hammond of Heights Securities in a Dec. 28 research note.
Nevertheless, he said that the chance of passing the checks of $ 2,000 has increased, but still remains slim: ‘In total, we give a 30% chance (compared to 10%) that an account that increases direct payments to $ 2,000, this week will be signed. , “Hammond wrote.
This would be the second time lawmakers have tried to increase the checks to $ 2,000 per person after a vote on Dec. 24 in the House during a pro forma session. The attempt was blocked by House Republicans.
Another $ 385 billion needed
House President Nancy Pelosi called on Republicans Sunday to support the larger checks. Republicans pushed back against larger checks because of their costs, which according to Heights Securities would amount to about $ 530 billion, or about $ 385 billion more than Congress approved with the $ 600 checks.
“The president must immediately call on Republicans of Congress to end their obstruction and to assist him and Democrats in supporting our stand-alone legislation to increase direct paychecks to $ 2,000, which is on the floor tomorrow. will be brought, “Pelosi tweeted.
The $ 600 checks directed by the relief bill will represent half of the $ 1,200 directed at most adults in the first round of stimulus checks. Critics said the aid would be useful, but not enough to tide families who have suffered incomes since the year coronavirus pandemic closed the economy in March and increased unemployment.
What about the timing of the checks?
For mr. Trump’s setback, Finance Minister Steven Mnuchin predicted on December 21 that some Americans could start receiving the funds as soon as they begin the week of December 28.
Despite the delay in signing the bill, the Treasury Department is working to have the checks paid into people’s accounts this week, though the timing may change, according to the Washington Post.
The IRS will rely on the same banking information provided by tax returns and through the agency’s Get My Payment portal, which enables people to enter their banking information. According to the IRS website, the ‘Get my payment’ portal is not currently open, but that it ‘continues to monitor and prepare new legislation related to economic impact payments’, which is the term used by the IRS for stimulus tests.
What about the $ 600 checks?
The checks represent half of the amount spent on most U.S. households in the spring, when the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (or CARES Act) granted $ 1,200 checks to eligible adults.
Under the bill passed by Congress this month, one group of people in the second round of stimulus checks would receive more money than the first: dependent children, who would receive the same $ 600 checks as adults, compared to the $ 500 checks children have in the spring received by the CARES Act.
Single people earning up to $ 75,000 will receive $ 600, while married couples earning up to $ 150,000 will receive $ 1,200.
The second round of checks has the same type of income phasing out as in the CARES Act, with the stimulus check payments reduced for earnings of more than $ 75,000 per single person or $ 150,000 per couple.
The amount individuals receive will be reduced by $ 5 for every $ 100 of income earned above the threshold, according to the Home Compensation Committee. This is similar to the CARES law, but fewer taxpayers with higher earnings would be eligible for the checks according to this formula compared to the previous account.
The second stimulus checks will be phased out entirely for single people earning more than $ 87,000 or married couples earning more than $ 174,000 – compared to the phasing out of the CARES law for singles earning more than $ 99,000 and for couples earning more than $ 198,000.
To see how much you can receive, you can go to the Omni Calculator’s second stimulus computer for an estimate.
$ 600 for each “dependent” child
Apart from the smaller stimulus tests for adults, the other important change under the bill passed by Congress is the amount provided to dependent children: $ 600 for each child, compared to $ 500 in the CARES Act.
However, the bill states that the amount of $ 600 on each dependent child will be younger than 17 years, which means that adults who are still claimed as dependents, such as university students and older high school students, would not qualify for the checks.
Adult dependents, such as the elderly who are claimed as dependents on their adults’ tax returns, would also not qualify for the checks. The exclusion of college students and other dependent adults was a matter of debate during the first round of checks, and some families argue that older dependents should also qualify for the payments.
A family of two parents with two child dependents can receive up to $ 2,400 by law, according to lawmakers.
Households “Mixed status”
Couples who have a immigrant without a green card will also be eligible for the checks, a provision that is retroactive to the CARES Act, the summary reads.
This is important for many families, because the first round of stimulus surveys only went to U.S. citizens or immigrants with a foreign status, also known as a green card. Legal immigrants without a green card, as well as undocumented immigrants, are excluded – and U.S. citizens married to immigrants without a green card are also excluded, as are their children, even if the young dependents are citizens.
Refusal of checks to US citizens due to their spouse or parental relationship with an immigrant lawsuits requested earlier this year on what plaintiffs allege was an unconstitutional act.
What about social security recipients?
One error in the first stimulus payments was a roll out more slowly for recipients of social security, as well as recipients for supplementary security income, beneficiaries of railway retirement council and beneficiaries of veterans administration. Because some of the recipients did not file tax returns – on which the IRS relied for the distribution of the earliest incentive payments – millions of them waited weeks or months to receive their checks.
According to New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan, who was working on a dual stimulus bill, the new bill ensured that recipients would receive the $ 600 checks automatically. This is the framework for the latest negotiations.
“I am particularly pleased that the final text of the emergency relief package contains my dual bill to ensure that recipients of social security, supplementary security income and certain VA benefits will receive these payments automatically,” Hassan said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch said.
That means millions of Social Security benefits, SSI, VA and Railroad Retirement will not miss the risk of missing out on payments, she added.