Information as of April 22, 2020
the end of March, the Treasury Department and the IRS announced a series of “economic impact payments” that would be distributed. As the public waits, we tackle some of the key points below:
Payment Amounts:
- Single/Head of Household filers: $1,200
- Married Filing Jointly: $2,400
- An additional $500 for each child under the age of 17
Adjusted Gross Income Threshold Amounts:
- Single: $75,000 – $99,000
- Head of Household: $112,500 – $136,500
- Married Filing Jointly: $150,000 – 198,000
- Payments will be reduced by $5 for every $100 above the lower income limits until they are completed phased out
Eligibility:
- Anyone who has an income above the highest end of the phaseout brackets, or anyone who is claimed as a dependent, is ineligible for an economic impact payment.
- The IRS will base eligibility off of 2019 tax returns. If 2019 is not available, they will use 2018 returns.
- If you are someone who does not file a tax return, but collects Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits, the IRS will use form SSA-1099 (Social Security benefit statement) or RRB-1099 (Railroad Retirement benefit statement) to determine eligibility.
- If you do not file a tax return, and do not collect Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits, you should use the non-filers link on the IRS website which can be reach by clicking here.
- Unless you are a non-filer mentioned in the bullet point above, no action is necessary to receive your check.
Details:
- The payment is structured as an advance of a 2020 tax credit.
- The payment is nontaxable.
- Payment will be direct deposited if the IRS has bank account information on file. If they do not, a physical check will be mailed.
Timing:
- The IRS sent out the first batch of stimulus payments on Saturday, April 11th.
- They will continue to process the payments over the coming months.
- Direct deposit payments will be received more quickly than checks in the mail, which the IRS has estimated could take up to 20 weeks.
- The IRS released a webpage (here) on April 17 that allows individuals to check on the status of their payment after entering some brief personal information.