Did The Fourth Stimulus Package Pass

What Else Is Included

The stimulus legislation also includes billions of dollars for housing assistance and food stamp benefits.

It creates a $25 billion program for bars and restaurants that have been forced to close amid the pandemic.

The legislation also includes $350 billion to help state and local governments weather their own budget woes. An estimated $4.9 billion of that money will come to Minnesota.

The bill passed the House on a 220-211 vote, with no Republicans voting in favor. Minnesota’s eight-member delegation split Wednesday all Democrats voted for the package and all GOP members opposed it.

Democrats said the relief bill will make a transformational change for families struggling with poverty. Republicans said it was saddled with bloat and would significantly help improve the economy.

No Economic Recovery For Others

The pandemic has further highlighted the growing imbalance across the broader economy. While many households have financially flourished during COVID, many others have fallen behind where they were in early 2020. Much of the gap depends on whether wage earners could work remotely during the shutdown or had public-facing jobs that required them to be on-site.

Financial insecurity is still widespread, and the loss of a job and the loss of hours were some of the main reasons over the course of the pandemic. Nine percent of American adults reported a shortage of food in their household over the previous week, according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis of U.S. Census survey data from late September and early October. Approximately 16 percent of renters have fallen behind on their rent, including 23 percent of renters with children in their household. The federal eviction moratorium, which ended October 3, didnt forgive rent that was owed, it pushed the debt into the future. And evictions continued in some parts of the country regardless. Meanwhile, only a fraction of the $46 billion Congress allocated for rental assistance has actually made it to tenants and landlords. As of late September, over a quarter of American adults reported some difficulty keeping up with expenses in the prior week.

You May Still Be Owed Money From The Last Payments

Finally, you could potentially get another stimulus payment if you did not receive all of the money that was owed to you from prior stimulus payments. The stimulus checks were advances on a tax credit, so you can file a tax return to claim your money.

If you didn’t file a 2020 or 2021 tax return and it turns out you should have done so to get a stimulus payment, you can still submit a return even though the deadline has passed. If you didn’t owe any money, you won’t owe late filing penalties .

Understanding these key stimulus facts should help you determine if another check is likely to come from the federal government or from your state.

Read Also: File For The First Stimulus Check

How To Return A Paper Check You Have Cashed Or Deposited

If you have already cashed or deposited the check , heres how you can return the money:

• Make a personal check or money order payable to U.S. Treasury.
• Write 2020EIP on the payment and include either the taxpayer identification number or Social Security number of the person whose name was on the stimulus payment.
• On a sticky note or sheet of paper, write down the reason youre sending back the check or money order.
• Mail the check or money order and the explanation to your local IRS office .15

What’s Included For Laid

The relief package includes a $300 a week boost in federal unemployment benefits through Sept. 6, extending the benefits that were set to expire this weekend.

A Senate amendment lowered the boost from $400 to $300.

The Senate also included a tax break for workers who received unemployment benefits in 2020. Anyone who earned less than $150,000 will not have to pay federal taxes on the first $10,200 of jobless aid.

Recommended Reading: Amount Of All Stimulus Checks

Two Weeks Practical Tips Big Results

Well talk through ways to find extra money when shopping for groceries, eating out, paying your bills, and managing lifestyle expenses each month. Be sure to stick with it for 14 days to get the best results!

Youll get an email each day for 14 days with a small task.

Each task will help you find extra money in your lifestyle.

The tasks typically take 510 minutes a day.

What If I Got A Check But Wasnt Supposed To

Before you do anything, make sure youre really not supposed to get a payment. If youre sure, then youll need to return the money. And while youre at it, you guys, head over to the IRS Portal to opt out of future payments. This is super important! You dont want that payment to keeping dropping in your bank account when youre not supposed to be getting it.

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Fourth Stimulus Check Approved In 14 States

As inflation continues to rise, many states have begun sending out aid to their taxpayers. Recently, over 14 states have approved a fourth stimulus check. However, this stimulus check will not follow the COVID-19 pandemic relief measures Americans have seen previously. These payments will exude a wide variety of monetary payouts and targeted locations. Government officials are aiming to ease the financial burdens brought on by COVID-19 and inflation.

Th Stimulus Check Update And Payment Status In 2022

This article provides updates, income qualification thresholds and FAQs on the approved and proposed stimulus checks, also known as Economic Impact payments.

While multiple rounds of payments have been made over the last two years, many are asking if the government will make another of payments to help folks cope with high inflation and the rising costs of basic goods and services.

Each round of stimulus check payments had slightly different rules so please ensure you review each payment round separately. Click the links below to jump to the relevant stimulus payment.

If you have not received one or more of your stimulus payments, then you will need to claim this as a recovery rebate via your tax filing for the relevant year. This include retroactive stimulus check payments.

• First Stimulus Check Payment in 2020

Recommended Reading: How To Get 1400 Stimulus Check

A Fourth Stimulus Check In 2022 To Deal With Inflation Pressures

There has plenty of talk of a fourth stimulus check in 2022, originally as a relief payment in Bidens build Back Better Bill and now as a way to offset higher costs many consumers are seeing due to record inflation.

However progress on a 4th stimulus check has stalled in Congress due to lack of agreement among Democrats and Republicans and what they can sell to their constituents ahead of the upcoming mid-term elections.

A 2022 Gas Stimulus?

With rising gas prices, many states are providing gas tax holidays which save drivers a few cents at the pump. Some states and even Congress are also considering a gas relief stimulus check which will pay families up to $400 p/month through 2022.

With the economy rebounding strongly, higher inflation and unemployment claims falling, it was hard for most Democrats in Congress to justify spending billions of dollars on even more stimulus payments.

Some states like California however, are making state specific stimulus payments to provide inflation relief for lower income workers which may be replicated in other states.

These are being done via additional tax rebates and immediate payment for lower income workers who filed a recent tax return.

The IRS has also completed making millions ofplus-up or catch-up stimulus payments to those who have filed a recent tax returns.

All plus-up and catch-up payments for past credits has now completed. You will need to claim them via filing a tax return.

First Stimulus Check Payment In 2020

The $2.2 trillion dollar stimulus bill has now been signed into law. Under this bill there is the widely reported economic stimulus payment checks of $1,200 per adult and $2400 for couples. For families they would provide $500 for every eligible child. The full stimulus check would be made to those earning less than $75,000 and would phase out to zero for those earning more than $99,000 . Head of household tax filers will get the full payment if they earned $112,500 or less.

In the phase out range for every $100 you earn above the lower limit payment drops by $5 until you reach the maximum limit .

Example If Brian made $67,000 last year based on his latest filed tax return, he would get the full $1200 payment. If he had made $90,000 he would only be eligible for $450 . If he had made $110,000 he wouldnt be eligible at all.

Example My wife and I made $185000. We filed jointly. Are we eligible to get anything from the 2020 stimulus? Answer You would be eligible to get $650.00 under the direct payment program. Up to $150,000, you get 100% of the $2,400 stimulus payment. Anything over 150,000, you would subtract 5% of the amount over $150,000. So in your scenario, 35k over 150k. 5% of 35k is $1750, So $2400- $1750=$650.00

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Should I Hold Off On Filing My Tax Return

It likely wont make a difference in the longer term other than to update dependent or payment data, but the IRS will only use your 2020 tax return data to determine eligibility for this round of stimulus checks if they have processed your return . If your 2020 return has not been filed and processing, they will use 2019 tax data for payment.

If your 2020 return is filed and/or processed after the IRS sends you a third stimulus check, but before July 15, 2021 the IRS would send you a second payment or require a repayment for the difference between what your payment should have been if based on your 2020 return and the payment actually sent based on your 2019 return.

The Claim: A Fourth $2000 Stimulus Payment Is Being Sent Out

With tax season underway, some experts have warned that the 2022 season may see some of the issues of 2021, when several rounds of stimulus checks caused severe logjams in the IRS’ filing system.

While it’s been about a year since stimulus checks were last dispensed, an array of social media posts claim a fourth round of stimulus checks are on the way.

“SENDING OUT $2,000 CHECKS FOR EVERYONE! FOURTH STIMULUS CHECK,” says the title on a viewed more than 20,000 times.

videos with titles claiming the checks will be deposited Feb. 9 drew 40,000 more views.

But none of the videos followed through with any proof of an upcoming payment. Because there isn’t one.

No fourth stimulus check is imminent, the IRS confirms.

The poster couldnt be reached for comment.

Also Check: When Can Social Security Recipients Expect The Stimulus Check 2021

Child Or Dependent Qualification For The $500 Payment

Several readers have asked questions around the $500 child dependent additional stimulus payment. To get this payment you must have filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return and claimed the child as dependent ANDthe child must be younger than 17-years-old at the end of 2020. They must also be related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption . There is no limit to the number of dependents who can qualify for the additional $500 in one household.

This age limit is much younger than what is used by the IRS in the qualifying child test where a child must be younger than 19 years old or be a student younger than 24 years old as of the end of the calendar year. Hence the confusion being caused by this. So just remember if your child or eligible dependent is 17 or over you cannot claim the stimulus payment for them.

College Kids and High School Seniors

The younger than 17 yr old requirement has ruled out several thousand college students and high school kids who are older than 17, but still being claimed as a dependent by their parents on their federal tax return.

However if you are a college student AND filed a recent tax return you can qualify for a standard/adult stimulus check per the above eligibility rules. But note as soon as you file a return you cannot be claimed as a dependent by others, which means they lose certain other tax benefits and credits.

Stimulus Check Scams And Hoaxes

Of course, popular demand for widely distributed stimulus payments, and the confusing political maneuvering that goes into crafting stimulus bills, creates an information gap that’s easily exploited by scammers.

Even with the first wave of stimulus checks in 2020, we saw bogus email messages that pretended to be from the IRS, promising “an important update on your Covid relief fund.” But they just took you to phishing sites that wanted your Social Security number and other sensitive bits of information.

Following the second stimulus bill at the beginning of 2021, those email phishing attempts were joined by scam phone calls demanding your personal details so that you could be “cleared” to receive more stimulus checks.

In March, as President Biden’s American Rescue Plan was making its way through Congress, new phishing emails promised the moon: a $4,000 stimulus check, a boost in the minimum wage, free meals and, best of all, priority treatment that let you skip lines at COVID-19 vaccination sites.

Most recently, cruel pranksters have been passing around posts on Facebook that a fourth stimulus check worth $2,500 is coming by the end of July. Don’t believe it, and don’t believe the phishing websites that claim to register you for child-tax-credit advance payments.

In fact, most parents and legal guardians don’t need to do anything to get the payments they’ll just show up in your mailbox or bank account.

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What Other Aid Is Out There

While a fourth stimulus check is improbable, more direct payments to Americans have already been signed into law. Up until Labor Day, the jobless received extended unemployment benefits. The American Rescue Plan also includes an advance Child Tax Credit.

Under the revised Child Tax Credit, the Internal Revenue Service is paying out $3,600 per year for each child up to five years old and $3,000 per year for each child ages six through 17. Monthly payments of up to $300 per child started July 15 and will continue through December of 2021. The remainder is to be issued when the recipient files their 2021 taxes. The benefit does not depend on the recipient’s current tax burden. In other words, qualifying families will receive the full amount, regardless of how much — or little — they owe in taxes. Payments start to phase out beyond a $75,000 annual income for individuals and beyond $150,000 for married couples. The more generous credit will apply only for 2021, though Biden has stated his interest in extending it through 2025.

The ARP added $21.6 billion to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which is being distributed to state and local governments, who then assist households. Most of the $46 billion total has yet to reach tenants and landlords.

In:

More Stimulus Payments In The Inflation Reduction Act

President Biden and the Democrat controlled Congress narrowly passed a scaled down version of the Build Build Better act, known as the Inflation Reduction Act .

While this bill included funding for several groups and additional taxes on corporations, it did not include another stimulus check or economic impact payment in 2022 or in 2023.

While many individuals and families could have benefited from some form of government support, especially with higher interest rates, there simply was not enough political support for further payments or tax credit expansions that could spur further inflation.

There was however some relief for medicare recipients and record raises for those on the Federal GS pay scale and subject to Military pay charts, thanks to a record 2023 COLA increase.

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What Should You Do With Your Third Stimulus Check

Lets be real: Three stimulus checks in a year or so is not normal. This third payment can go a long way to help you catch up on bills, pay off debt, or build up your savings. And for a lot of folks, those stimulus checks have kept food on the table. In our State of Personal Finance study, we found that 41% of people who got a stimulus check used it to pay for necessities like food and bills.

So, based on your situation, heres where you start:

If youre out of work or missing a paycheck, use this stimulus money to protect your Four Walls:

Focus on the necessities so you can have peace of mind as you keep looking for work or get your income back up. That means if youre working the Baby Steps and youre out of work, pause your plan for now. Pile up cash until you have a steady income again. Then you can attack your debt. Theres nothing like fighting through a financial crisis to light your fire to be debt-free as soon as possible!

On the other hand, if your job is safe and you feel like itll stay that way, use your stimulus money to build momentum on whatever Baby Step youre on. Put your debt snowball into overdrive. Knock out your fully funded emergency fund . Or talk to your investment professional about giving your retirement a big boost !

No matter your situation, dont forget to budgetits the best way to make your money go further. EveryDollar is our free and simple budgeting app that will help you see exactly where you need to cut back on your spending.