A second round of stimulus checks could soon land in the bank accounts of millions of Americans after President Donald Trump signed a $ 900 billion financial aid package Sunday night. However, in signing the bill, Trump once again asked for his $ 600 stimulus checks to be increased to $ 2,000 per person.
On Monday, the House will vote to increase the amount of relief checks to $ 2,000 per adult and $ 600 for children. The Senate should also “start the process for a vote that would increase checks to $ 2,000,” Trump said Sunday.
The president’s last-minute call for greater stimulus checks had jeopardized the relief package, as Mr. Trump had indicated he would not sign the bill without $ 2,000 aimed at each eligible adult. But now that the president has signed the bill (which still orders the federal government to send $ 600 in individual stimulus payments), doubts are being raised as to whether Americans could see a higher amount deposited in their bank accounts. .
Of course, millions of Americans could use larger checks. Nearly 6 in 10 consumers said they had suffered a financial setback due to the pandemic in late November, according to a recent TransUnion study, which also found that 40% of these households had been banked for the prospect of another stimulus control. to help them pay their bills.
At this point, people are likely to receive $ 600 checks, according to Wall Street analysts.
That’s because Congress would have to pass a separate bill to increase stimulus controls – and it’s unlikely there will be enough Republican lawmakers to vote in favor of higher payments, according to Hunter Hammond of Heights Securities in a December 28 research note.
Still, he said the odds of approving $ 2,000 checks have increased, but are still slim: “In total, we assign a 30% chance (compared to 10%) of an invoice that increases direct payments. $ 2,000 will be signed into law this week, “Hammond wrote.
It would be the second time lawmakers have tried to raise checks to $ 2,000 per person, following a Dec. 24 vote in the House during a pro forma session. House Republicans blocked the effort.
Another $ 385 billion was needed
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday urged Republicans to support the larger controls. Republicans have turned down larger checks for their cost, which would amount to about $ 530 billion, or about $ 385 billion more than Congress approved with the $ 600 checks, according to Heights Securities.
“The president must immediately call on Republicans in Congress to end his obstruction and join him and Democrats in supporting our autonomous legislation to increase direct payment checks to $ 2,000, which will be taken on the floor tomorrow, “Pelosi posted.
The $ 600 checks billed by the relief bill would account for half of the $ 1,200 addressed to most adults in the first round of stimulus checks. Critics had said the aid would be useful, but not enough to overcome families who have suffered loss of income or jobs since the Coronavirus pandemic it closed the economy in March and caused rising unemployment.
What about the timing of the checks?
Prior to Trump’s setback, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin predicted on Dec. 21 that some Americans could begin receiving the funds as early as the week of Dec. 28.
Despite the delay in signing the bill, the Treasury Department is working to have the checks deposited in people’s accounts this week, although the schedule could change, according to the Washington Post.
The IRS will be based on the same banking information provided by tax returns and through the agency’s “Get My Payment” portal, which allowed users to enter their bank information. The IRS website says its “Get My Pay” portal isn’t currently open, but that it “continues to monitor and prepare for new legislation related to economic impact payments,” which is the term that the IRS uses it to check the stimulus.
What about $ 600 checks?
The controls would account for half of the amount targeted at most U.S. households in the spring, when the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (or CARES Act) authorized $ 1,200 for eligible adults.
However, according to the bill passed by Congress this month, a group of people would receive more money in the second round of stimulus checks than the first: dependent children, who would receive the same $ 600 checks as adults, of the $ 500. dollars received by children received through the CARES law in the spring.
Single people earning up to $ 75,000 would receive $ 600, while married couples earning up to $ 150,000 would receive $ 1,200.
The second round of checks would have the same type of phasing out of income as under the CARES Act, with stimulus check payments reduced by earnings in excess of $ 75,000 per single person or $ 150,000 per married couple.
The amount of payment individuals receive would be reduced by $ 5 for every $ 100 of income earned above these thresholds, according to the House Appropriations Committee. This is similar to the CARES Act, but fewer taxpayers with higher incomes could obtain checks under this formula if compared to the previous bill.
Second stimulus checks would be completely eliminated for single people earning more than $ 87,000 or married couples earning more than $ 174,000, compared to the phasing out of the CARES Act for single people earning more than $ 99,000 and for couples earning more than $ 198,000.
To check how much you can receive, you can go to the second Omni Calculator stimulus calculator to get an estimate.
$ 600 for each “dependent” child
Aside from the smaller stimulus checks for adults, the other major change under the bill passed by Congress is the amount planned for dependent children: $ 600 for each child, compared to $ 500 for the CARES law.
However, the bill states that $ 600 would go to every dependent child under the age of 17, which means that adults who nevertheless declare themselves dependent, such as college students and older high school students, they could not get the controls.
Adult dependents, such as seniors who declare themselves dependent on their adult children’s tax returns, would also not be able to obtain checks. The exclusion of college students and other adult dependents was a topic of debate with the first round of checks, and some families argued that older dependents should also be entitled to payments.
A family of two parents with two dependent children could receive up to $ 2,400 according to the provision, lawmakers said.
“Mixed state” home
Couples that include a immigrant without a green card would also qualify for controls, a retroactive provision in the CARES Act, according to the summary.
This is important for many families, as the first round of stimulus checks was only for U.S. citizens or immigrants with resident alien status, also known as the Green Card. Legal immigrants without a green card were excluded, as well as undocumented immigrants, and married American citizens with immigrants without a green card, as well as their children, even if the dependent youth are citizens, were also excluded.
Deny checks to American citizens because of their partner or partner with an immigrant lawsuits earlier this year for which the plaintiffs claimed unconstitutional action.
How about Social Security recipients?
An error in the first stimulus payments was one slower deployment for Social Security beneficiaries, as well as beneficiaries of supplementary security income, beneficiaries of the Railway Retirement Board and beneficiaries of the Veterans Administration. Because some of these recipients do not file tax returns, which the IRS relied on to distribute the first stimulus payments, millions of them waited weeks or months to get their checks.
But the new bill would ensure these recipients receive the $ 600 checks automatically, according to New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, who worked on a bipartisan stimulus bill that became part of the latest negotiations. .
“I am particularly pleased that the final text of the aid package includes my bipartisan bill to ensure that recipients of Social Security, Supplemental Security Income and certain VA benefits will receive these payments automatically,” Hassan said in an email electronic on CBS MoneyWatch.
This means that millions of Social Security, SSI, VA and Railroad retirement benefits would not risk being lost on receiving payments, he added.