We continue answering the most relevant questions send to us via FB. Guys, thank you for the great money questions and keep sending them. We will be picking the most pressing ones and answering them here.
Today we will focus on the COVID-19 outbreak financial news, leading to the signed about $2 trillion stimulus package into law some time ago, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has staggered the U.S. economy for the last couple of months.
1. The Internal Revenue Service have already started cutting stimulus checks since mid-April, and it’s already gotten money to nearly 130 million people. Everyone who received the payments should be satisfied as there is 1 200 USD in hand to spend, anyway people want to. This is to battle the massive health and financial consequences of the COVID-19 crisis.
So far IRS paid out about 230 billion USD, according to statistics released in the middle of May. The 2.2 trillion USD relief bill is called the CARES Act. It sets aside 290 billion USD for direct cash payments to individuals and households. The federal agency slated to put approximately 5 million checks in the mail each week, for up to 20 weeks.
There are people, though, still waiting to receive their stimulus money, so here are the most common reasons for still waiting for your stimulus money check.
2. Maybe the IRS doesn’t have your bank-account information on file? Those are approximately 14 million Americans, according to a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. survey from 2017. And that’s about 6.5% of American households.
If you are one of those, you are urged to open bank account as quickly as possible so you can get your stimulus money quicker. This will not only speed up the process, but also will help you bypassing pricey fees from check-cashing businesses, some of which can charge more than 50 USD to cash a stimulus check for a family, according to a recent analysis.
After opening a bank account, you can submit your bank information to the IRS. If you don’t file tax returns (some people don’t make enough money to file), you will need to submit the account information via an IRS website for people who don’t file tax returns. Here is the web link:
3. People who have filed the need information, but still did not give the IRS their banking information can submit direct deposit information through an IRS tool called Get My Payment (there will also be a Spanish language version in a couple of weeks, according to the IRS). The tracking tool can also show payment status, but some people have complained that the tool doesn’t give them any information.
4. You might not get positive answer – and there are good reasons for it, according to the IRS.
4.1. Common case is - the agency isn’t done processing yours 2019 return. It could also be that you usually do not file a tax return and has submitted non-filer information via the IRS web portal, which is still being processed.
4.2. You make too much money in order to be stimulated. If you are one of those, you might not be getting a 1200 USD stimulus payment.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, authorized 1 200 USD payed to individuals, making less than 75 000 USD yearly, and 2 400 to married couples earning under 150 000 USD. Over the program the parents will also receive 500 USD for each child (aged under 18). The payments will decline by 5 USD for every 100 above the 75 000 or 150 000 threshold. If you are making over 99 000 USD, you will not qualify. The couples limit is making over 198 000 USD.
If you exceed the income limit, you might still have a chance to get the stimulus money over the next year. That’s because the stimulus payments are an advance credit for next year’s tax season. The credit is just being paid now. And, if you made too much money based on the income-tax returns you have filled for 2019, you could still get the money based on the tax returns you file in 2021 for your income in 2020.
5. Another person is claiming you as a dependent
If you are a young adult, you might be missing out on stimulus money because your parents have claimed you as dependent. When it comes to stimulus checks, the IRS counts a dependent as under age of 18. And it could happen if the IRS is only reviewing a 2018 return. It could be looking back at a point in time when you were a high-school senior when now you are in college.
6. If you have married a green-card holder, it doesn’t necessarily mean a second stimulus check.
If a spouse was married to a green-card holder and present in the United States before they received permanent-resident status, they, too, should be getting a check. But if someone married a green-card holder afterward, they wouldn’t get the same benefit. Receiving a stimulus check shouldn’t usually disrupt a person’s path to citizenship, if they already have a green card. The main rule is that no one is giving you anything, instead it’s something you’re entitled to.
7. Your immigration status could be complicating matters
The government is paying the stimulus checks to U.S. citizens only. The checks are also going to certain categories of non–U.S. citizens. This includes “legal permanent residents,” also known as green-card holders, according to the IRS. Nevertheless, if someone still has a green-card application pending, they may not be getting a stimulus check, at least not any time soon. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) field offices, which administer in-person interviews before issuing green cards are closed temporarily until June 3. Whenever the USCIS reopens its offices, it’s likely green cards will be issued at a slower pace, meaning a slower payout of money stimulus to new green-card holders.
8. Glitches in the system could be slowing delivery
Some national tax preparers offer advances on a client’s refund, with the money loaded onto a debit card. Yet that could mean the IRS might not be putting the stimulus money in the right account. The IRS sometimes “created confusion by not always using clients’ final destination bank account information for stimulus payments.”, claimed a bank representative.
That’s why, it is advised for everyone to update their direct-deposit information on the IRS’s Get My Payment tool. But if the IRS already put the money on a Serve or Bluebird card that the customer no longer has, go to that account and ask for a replacement if that’s possible.
9. It is possible a debt collectors to be taking your money
It is important to understand the wording of the CARES Act does not prevent private debt collectors from seizing stimulus checks that suddenly come into a bank account.
A debt-collection trade group said members are “acting with compassion” at this time, but, even still, it noted, collectors wouldn’t know the source of money that suddenly comes into an account. It’s also important to know state laws. Approximately 10 states plus Washington, D.C., and several other cities and counties are enacting orders preventing garnishment of stimulus checks money, according to the National Consumer Law Center.