While the Congress continues to debate additional COVID-19 relief for Americans, taxpayers are already getting a stimulus check.
A recent announcement from IRS indicates that Treasury and IRS begin delivering second round of Economic Impact Payments to millions of Americans. (link to press release)
Most eligible taxpayers will get their payments automatically without additional paperwork.
Who is eligible for the second Economic Impact Payment?
- U.S. citizens and resident aliens who are not eligible to be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s income tax return are eligible for this second payment.
- Eligible individuals will automatically receive an Economic Impact Payment of up to $600 for individuals or $1,200 for married couples and up to $600 for each qualifying child.
- If you have adjusted gross income for 2019 up to $75,000 for individuals and up to $150,000 for married couples filing joint returns and surviving spouses, you will receive the full amount of the second payment. For filers with income above those amounts, the payment amount is reduced.
Are more people eligible now for a payment than before?
Under the earlier CARES Act, joint returns of couples where only one member of the couple had a Social Security number were generally ineligible for a payment – unless they were a member of the military. But this month’s new law changes and expands that provision, and more people are now eligible. In this situation, these families will now be eligible to receive payments for the taxpayers and qualifying children of the family who have work-eligible SSNs. People in this group who don’t receive an Economic Impact Payment can claim this when they file their 2020 taxes under the Recovery Rebate Credit.
People can check the status of both their first and second payments by using the Get My Payment tool, available on IRS.gov. For more information about Economic Impact Payments and the 2020 Recovery Rebate, key information will be posted on IRS.gov/eip.