How stimulus checks will get to recipients
When the CARES Act was signed into law on March 27, the headlines were all about the $1,200 stimulus checks ($2,400 for those married filing jointly) that will be given to people who fall below certain income limits, plus $500 for each dependent under 17.
The government promised that even people who earned too little to be required to file tax returns would be found and paid. But there are complexities, and it likely will take a long time for some people to get their money.
Here’s what you should know about the stimulus checks:
Stimulus for tax filers
If you haven’t filed your 2019 return (the deadline this year is July 15), the stimulus check will go to the direct deposit account or mailing address listed on your 2018 return. If you can, file your 2019 return now so the IRS has your latest adjusted gross income, as well as the direct deposit information (if you’re getting a refund) or mailing address that the IRS will use to issue your stimulus check.
If you filed a return and didn’t get a refund, you cannot get direct deposit of your stimulus check. Instead, a paper check will come in the mail to the address on your most recent filing.
If your tax refund went to a tax preparer who sent it on to you, your stimulus payment will go to the authorized direct deposit account in your latest filed tax return, either 2018 or 2019. If no direct deposit account was indicated on your latest return, a paper check will be sent to the most recent address on your tax return.
Stimulus for Social Security recipients who don’t file tax returns
If you receive Social Security or disability income, you don’t have to do anything. Your stimulus check will be based on information on your form SSA-1099 or RRB-1099 and will be deposited to you in the same way as your monthly Social Security benefit.
Stimulus for Supplemental Security Income benefit recipients who don’t file taxes
The Treasury Department as of this writing has not decided how to get your stimulus payment to you. However, the government already knows how to send you your benefits. AARP and others are pushing the government to send stimulus the same way it does to Social Security income recipients, without extra registration. You could go to the free TurboTax Stimulus Registration to input the necessary information if you don’t need to file a tax return (see below).
Stimulus for people who don’t get benefits or don’t file taxes
The government said it would create a web portal so people who do not have to file taxes or receive benefits could register. It hasn’t happened yet. However, TurboTax has created Stimulus Registration product allowing Americans who don’t file taxes to send the IRS necessary information. Go to https://turbotax.intuit.com/stimulus-check/ and enter the information.
Stimulus for dependents
Stimulus checks of $500 for children under age 17 will go to the parent who claimed the child as a dependent on his or her tax return, or who registers the child as a dependent if not required to file. However, you don’t get any benefit for children over 17 or for adult parents you may claim as a dependent. Consider amending your 2019 return, not claiming your adult child, allowing your college student to file independently (or register at TurboTax) to qualify for the $1,200 check.
Stimulus for those owing child support
If you are in arrears on child support, and your state has communicated that to the federal government, you will not receive a stimulus check.
There will be issues getting this massive distribution into the hands and bank accounts of the people who likel will need it most. And that’s The Savage Truth.
Terry Savage is a registered investment adviser and the author of four best-selling books, including “The Savage Truth on Money.”
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