A second round of stimulus checks could soon hit the bank accounts of millions of Americans after President Donald Trump signed a $ 900 billion economic aid package Sunday night. But when he signed the bill, Mr. Trump again called for his $ 600 stimulus checks to take place boosted to $ 2,000 per person.
On Monday, the House will vote to increase the amount of emergency checks to $ 2,000 per adult and $ 600 for children. The Senate should also “initiate the process for a vote that increases the checks to $ 2,000,” Trump said on Sunday.
The president’s last-minute call for larger stimulus checks had jeopardized the aid package, as Mr. Trump had indicated that he would not sign the bill without $ 2,000 directed to every eligible adult. But now that the president has signed the bill – which still directs the federal government to send $ 600 in individual stimulus payments – that begs the question of whether Americans can nevertheless see a higher amount deposited in their bank accounts.
Sure, millions of Americans could use bigger checks. Nearly 6 in 10 consumers said they suffered a financial setback from the pandemic in late November, according to a recent study by TransUnion, which found that 40% of those households had counted on the prospect of another stimulus check. to help them pay their bills.
According to Wall Street analysts, it is likely to still receive $ 600 checks at this point.
That’s because Congress would have to pass a separate bill to increase stimulus controls – and it is unlikely that enough Republican lawmakers would vote for higher payments, Hunter Hammond of Heights Securities said in a Dec. 28 investigation note.
Still, he said the odds of getting the $ 2,000 checks have increased, but still remains small: “Overall, we assign a 30% chance (instead of 10%) that an account that increases direct payments to $ 2,000 will be legally signed this week. ‘, Wrote Hammond.
It would be the second time that lawmakers have attempted to boost checks to $ 2,000 per person, following a December 24 vote in Parliament in a pro forma session. The attempt was blocked by House Republicans.
Need another $ 385 billion
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday urged Republicans to back the larger controls. Republicans have pushed back against larger checks due to their costs, which are estimated to be $ 530 billion, or about $ 385 billion more than what Congress approved with the $ 600 checks, according to Heights Securities.
“The president should immediately call on Republicans in Congress to end their obstruction and join him and the Democrats in support of our standalone legislation to increase direct payment checks to $ 2,000, which will be taken to the Floor tomorrow, “Pelosi tweeted.
The $ 600 checks driven by the emergency would represent half of the $ 1,200 directed to most adults in the first round of stimulus checks. Critics had said the aid would be helpful, but not enough to help families who have suffered income or job losses since the US corona pandemic the economy shut down in March, causing a spike in unemployment.
What about the timing of the checks?
Prior to Mr Trump’s relapse, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had predicted on Dec. 21 that some Americans could receive the money as early as the week of Dec. 28.
Despite the delay in signing the bill, the Treasury Department is working to get the checks deposited into people’s accounts this week, although the timing may change, according to the Washington Post.
The IRS will rely on the same bank information provided by tax returns and through the agency’s “Get My Payment” portal, where people could enter their bank information. The IRS site says 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 the IRS uses for incentive checks .
How about the $ 600 checks?
The checks represent half the amount sent to most U.S. households in the spring, when the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (or CARES Act) allowed $ 1,200 checks for eligible adults.
Under the bill passed by Congress this month, one group of people would receive more money in the second round of incentive checks than the first: dependent children, who would receive the same $ 600 checks as adults, higher than the checks from $ 500 that children receive through the CARES Act in the spring.
Singles who make up to $ 75,000 receive $ 600, while married couples who make up to $ 150,000 receive $ 1,200.
The second round of checks would have the same kind of income phasing as in the CARES Act, lowering stimulus checks for earnings in excess of $ 75,000 per single or $ 150,000 per married couple.
The amount of payment individuals receive would be reduced by $ 5 for every $ 100 in income earned above those thresholds, according to the House Appropriations committee. This is comparable to the CARES Act, but compared to the previous bill, less higher earning taxpayers would be eligible for the checks under this formula.
The second incentive check would be completely phased out for singles earning more than $ 87,000 or married couples earning more than $ 174,000 – compared to the phasing out of the CARES Act for singles earning more than $ 99,000 and couples earning more than $ 198,000 to earn.
To see how much you could receive, go to Omni Calculator’s second stimulus calculator for an estimate.
$ 600 for each “dependent” child
Aside from the smaller adult stimulation controls, the other big change under the bill passed by Congress is the amount provided for dependent children: $ 600 for each child, compared to $ 500 in the CARES Act.
However, the bill states that the $ 600 would be spent on any dependent child under the age of 17, meaning adults who are nonetheless claimed as dependents – such as college students and older high school students – will not be eligible for the checks.
Adult dependents, such as seniors who are classified as dependents according to their adult children’s tax returns, are also not eligible for the checks. The exclusion of students and other adult dependents was a matter of debate in the first round of checks, with some families arguing that older dependents should also be eligible for the payments.
A family of two parents with two dependent children could receive up to $ 2,400, according to lawmakers.
Households with a “mixed status”
Couples with a immigrant without a green card would also qualify for the controls, a provision that goes back to the CARES law, the summary said.
This is important to many families because the first round of incentive checks only went to US citizens or immigrants with foreigner resident status, also known as a green card. Legal immigrants without a green card, as well as undocumented immigrants, were banned – and also US citizens who were married to immigrants without a green card were banned, as well as their children, even if the young dependent citizens are citizens.
Refusing checks to US citizens because of their marital or parental relationship with an immigrant cause for litigation earlier this year on what plaintiffs claimed was an unconstitutional action.
What about Social Security recipients?
A glitch in the first stimulus payments was one slower rollout for Social Security recipients, as well as supplemental security income recipients, Railroad Retirement Board beneficiaries, and Veterans Administration beneficiaries. Because some of those recipients don’t file tax returns – which the IRS relied on to split the earliest stimulus payments – millions of them waited weeks or months to receive their checks.
But the new bill would ensure those recipients would automatically receive the $ 600 checks, said New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan, who was working on a bipartisan incentive bill that became the framework for the latest negotiations.
“I am extremely pleased that the final text of the aid package includes my bipartisan bill to ensure recipients of Social Security, Supplemental Security Income and certain VA benefits will automatically receive these payments,” Hassan said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch .
That means millions of Social Security, SSI, VA, and railroad retirement benefits aren’t at risk of missing out on payments, she added.