April 15, 2020
Dear friends,
Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) wants to make sure you have the most up-to-date information on important resources during this challenging time with the Corona Virus pandemic.
The focus of this message is everything we know about the Coronavirus Stimulus Payments that are part of the federal government’s CARES Act relief package. We include information about who is eligible for these payments and who is not eligible, and how to get the payments if you do not file income taxes or do not have a bank account where you can receive a direct deposit payment.
Scroll through the sections of this message to find the information you need.
If you are fortunate enough to not need your stimulus payment in order to financially survive the coronavirus pandemic, please consider making a contribution to CCHCC to support our work. [1]
Overview of CARES Act Stimulus payments:
Part of the $2 trillion stimulus package from the US government is one-time cash payments of up to $1,200 to Americans who qualify.
Those payments — coronavirus stimulus payments — will be paid automatically to Americans with Social Security numbers.
If you filed taxes in 2018 or 2019, or you don’t file taxes but do get Social Security payments, you don’t have to do anything to get a payment.
If you don’t file taxes or get Social Security, the IRS has set up a “simple web portal” to submit your information, so you can get your payment faster.
Americans who have set up direct deposits should get their payments by mid-April. Americans who are receiving paper checks may have to wait considerably longer.
Who will get a Stimulus payment:
You will get a stimulus payment if you:
– Have a Social Security number.
– Have filed taxes in 2018 or 2019, or don’t earn enough to file but receive Social Security payments.
– Earned less than $99,000 for single filers, $136,500 for heads of household, or $198,000 for married filers according to the most recent tax return filed.
– Are not claimed by someone else as a dependent.
Who will NOT get a Stimulus payment?
Dependents older than 16 years of age, people without a Social Security number, and those with incomes above $99,000 (or $136,500 if you file as a head of household) will not get stimulus payments.
Who is at risk of losing out on a payment even if they do qualify?
About 10 million low-income Americans are at risk for losing out on the stimulus payments because they do not file taxes, making it harder for the IRS to verify their information or find them in order to provide the payment. By law, people don’t have to file if they earn less than $12,200. There are many low-income people, including people with disabilities, who fall into this category. Others in this group also include people who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and low-income veterans who receive certain benefits. These individuals might need to use some of the tools provided further below in this message in order to get their stimulus payments.
What do I need to do to get a Stimulus payment?
The process for getting a stimulus payment is automatic for most Americans.
To get a payment, you must have a Social Security number. People who filed taxes in 2018 and/or 2019 will most likely be the first recipients of these payments via direct deposit.
Nonresident immigrants, people without a Social Security number, and adult dependents are unfortunately not eligible.
Note that if you’ve moved, and you haven’t provided the IRS with direct-deposit information, you should make sure the agency has the correct address on file to receive a paper check in the mail.
If you don’t file taxes but do get Social Security payments, the government will use that information for your payment and will provide a direct deposit payment to the account where you receive your Social Security payments.
If you don’t file taxes or get Social Security payments, the IRS has a “simple web portal” for you to submit your information on (more information on this in the sections below).
How you will get the money:
Most people will get the money deposited directly into their bank accounts.
People who do not set up direct deposits with the federal government will be mailed a paper check, unless they take other action (see in sections below) to set up a direct deposit method with the IRS.
People who don’t file taxes but do get Social Security payments will get a payment the same way they get their Social Security payments.
People who don’t file taxes or get Social Security payments will need to send the IRS their information through a “simple web portal”. If you do not have a bank account for direct deposit, there are other ways to get the money more quickly than waiting for a check to be mailed (see sections below).
When will I get my payment? Can I track my payment?
The federal government says that if they have your information – Social Security number and direct deposit information – you should get your check any day now.
For Americans who have not set up direct deposits with the federal government, it could take up to five months for about 60 million Americans to receive a paper check. To get payment faster, consider using one of the tools in the section further below.
To check the status of your stimulus payment, you can go here [2] or you can go to the IRS website here. [3]
If I have not had to file taxes in 2018 or 2019, how will the IRS know where to send my stimulus payment?
In most cases, the IRS will take direct-deposit information or a mailing address from your most recent tax filing.
For people who receive Social Security payments but don’t have enough income to file taxes, the IRS will use the information from the Social Security payments to do a direct deposit payment.
If neither of the above situations applies to you, but you qualify for a payment, the IRS has set up a “simple tax return” in an online portal through which you can give the IRS your contact details. In addition, if you do not have a way to do a direct deposit due to not having a bank account, there are new tools you can use to get your payment faster (see sections below).
TOOLS FOR NON-TAX FILERS AND THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE BANK ACCOUNTS WHERE THEY CAN RECEIVE DIRECT DEPOSIT
Non-filers of tax returns, see this page of IRS website to enter your information. [4]
You can also use a free tool provided by TurboTax – even if you don’t file taxes – in order to get your stimulus payment faster:
TurboTax has launched a new stimulus registration tool in partnership with the Internal Revenue Service to help low-income Americans who don’t usually file taxes get their stimulus aid checks.
The tool is free [5] and allows people to file a minimum tax return with the IRS to determine if they’re eligible for the stimulus payment. If eligible, users will need to answer a few questions and choose whether to get the payment though direct deposit or check.
No bank account for direct deposit? Help is available! Here is another way to receive a direct deposit – Square’s Cash App:
A lot of people don’t have or are unable to acquire a bank account, and Cash App offers a quick way for them to access deposits (physical stimulus checks are supposed to take longer to arrive). You will need to sign up for a Cash Card to set up a routing and account number. Once you do that, you will need to submit your banking information to the IRS. If you happened to file a federal income tax return in 2018 or 2019 or you don’t normally file a tax return, but would still like the money to go to Cash App, the company says the IRS is releasing a tool on April 17th to update your direct deposit info with a new account.
Learn more. [6]
OTHER FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE STIMULUS PAYMENTS
Is the money from the stimulus payment taxable?
No, the money is not taxable.
Will I have to pay this money back in next year’s taxes? Is there a “clawback” provision?
No, you will not have to pay this money back. There is no clawback provision for the federal government to get this money back even if you owe taxes next year. [7]
What if I owe back taxes right now? Will this be taken out of my stimulus check?
You’ll still get a check if you qualify.
These payments are treated differently than your tax refund. Typically, you can have your refund seized if you owe back taxes, but that’s NOT the case here. Even people with tax debt should be getting a stimulus payment if they’re under the income thresholds. Outstanding student loans will NOT be deducted from these payments either.
The only people who could get their check reduced because of debt are parents with outstanding child support.
What if my 2018 income qualifies me for a stimulus check, but my 2019 income doesn’t?
The IRS bases the amount of your payment on the AGI listed in your most recent tax return: 2018 or 2019. In some cases, when your income changed between 2018 and 2019, your 2018 income might qualify for a larger payment than your 2019 payment, or perhaps it might qualify for any payment while your 2019 does not.
In that case, because the IRS has extended the federal tax filing and payment deadline to July 15 (all states that tax income have also their deadlines, in most cases until July 15), you could hold off filing your 2019 income taxes until after the IRS has issued your payment, forcing the organization to use your 2018 income for your payment.
Waiting to file has a few downsides, like waiting longer to get your refund and giving identity thieves more time to try and prey on your taxes. However, if you’d qualify for a stimulus check under your 2018 income but not at all under 2019, it might be worth holding off filing for a few weeks (assuming you haven’t already).
How much will I get?
The IRS bases the amount of your payment on the adjusted gross income (AGI) listed on your most recent tax return: 2018 or 2019.
The maximum payment is $1,200 for single filers with an AGI below $75,000 or single parents (heads of household) with an AGI below $112,500. Married couples who file jointly and have an AGI below $150,000 will get a total of $2,400.
Payments will begin to phase out at a rate of $5 for each $100 over the AGI threshold before ceasing at an AGI of $99,000 for single filers, $136,500 for heads of household, and $198,000 for married filers. There’s also an additional $500 allotted to parents who have an AGI within the phaseout range for each child younger than 17.
Is there a calculator to help me figure out how much I should be getting?
Yes, you can use an online calculator to figure out how much your payment will be if you are unsure.
Stimulus payment calculator. [8]
IRS – resources for getting your Stimulus payment [3]
Do residents with Green Cards get checks? What about DACA recipients and other undocumented immigrants?
Payments will only go to people with Social Security cards. Green card holders, DACA recipients and immigrants with temporary protected status are all eligible for Social Security cards and so should be able to get stimulus checks, according to immigration attorneys. But immigrants on tourist visas, and those who are undocumented, will not be able to get checks.
Also, unfortunately, if one spouse has a Social Security card but the other does not, they are labeled a “mixed family” under the relief bill, which means neither spouse can get a check, and they cannot get the $500 payments for any children in the household — even if they’ve both been paying taxes and the kids are U.S. citizens.
Immigrants and refugees who need more help are welcome to contact the center [9] for information, to access the Resources Guide in several languages, to contact the help line, and to apply for one-time financial support from Immigrant Relief Fund.
If you need more information or you have specific questions, please feel free to contact CCHCC!
You can reach us by phone at 217-352-6533 to leave a message, and we will call you back as soon as we can. You can also send an email to us at cchcc@cchcc-il.org [10].
How you can help CCHCC to serve our community:
You can help by forwarding this message or sharing the link at the top of this page with your family and friends and any groups with whom you communicate.
If you are fortunate enough to not need your stimulus payment in order to financially survive the coronavirus pandemic, please consider making a contribution to CCHCC to support our work.
DONATE NOW! [1]
Sincerely,
Champaign County Health Care Consumers