New $ 1,400 stimulus checks could be on the way to millions of Americans as the House of Representatives passes the latest coronavirus control bill.
The fate of those payments now rests in the hands of the Senate, which will start considering the proposed legislation this week.
The terms have resulted in instant payments of $ 1,400 per person and per dependent.
Payments would be based on the same income thresholds as the first two incentive checks. Individuals with adjusted gross income up to $ 75,000, heads of household up to $ 112,500, and married couples filing together for up to $ 150,000 would receive full payments.
But controls would be phased out for people with incomes above that level. This time, they would be capped for individuals making $ 100,000, householders with $ 150,000, and married couples with $ 200,000.
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The stimulus package for the coronavirus is making its way through the House of Representatives and the Senate under budget reconciliation. That process will likely prevent major changes to the plan, although the final numbers may change.
“There will be pushback and effort to reduce the size of the package,” said Bill Hoagland, senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center, of the upcoming Senate negotiations.
Republicans are expected to challenge the $ 1.9 trillion in total spending, particularly related to state funding, multi-employer pensions and aid not directly related to the Covid-19 pandemic, he said. (In fact, the House version passed from 219 to 210, without any Republican backing.)
Since the $ 1,400 incentive checks are one-time payments, they are unlikely to become a bottleneck in the negotiations, Hoagland said.
Future payment term of $ 1,400
The legislation is expected to become final in mid-March, when increased federal unemployment benefits expire.
As with the first two stimulus checks, most of the payments will likely be sent via direct deposit to those who have already registered their bank details with the IRS. According to Garrett Watson, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, based on the latest $ 600 checks, that money could come in within two weeks of the legislation being finalized.
The rest of the direct payments are sent by post, either as a debit card or a check. Those payments may take longer to come in, possibly in April and May, Watson said.
One reason payments may face delays this time around is the fact that the IRS will be in the middle of tax season when they go out, he said.
However, experience with previous payments can help make the process smoother.
“The good news is that there’s a little bit more infrastructure and a more formalized process to do this than last year this time, because they’ve been through it twice,” Watson said.
This time, the controls are set to be based on 2019 or 2020 returns.
The IRS has said it had sent all “legally permissible” first and second incentive checks and is now targeting tax filing season.
The tax authorities sent more than $ 160 million $ 1,200 incentive checks totaling more than $ 270 billion. It also sent more than $ 147 million in direct payments totaling more than $ 142 billion.
Note that people who qualify but have not received previous payments can claim the money through a chargeback discount on their tax returns.