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- Stimulus Checks – $1,400 per household member
- includes dependents over 17 years
- available to individual earning less than $75,000 (or couple filing >$150,000) calculated by 2020 or 2019 tax return
- CTC Changes– for year 2021 the changes are:
- credit is fully refundable– 50% monthly and 50% when filing one’s return
- credit increase to $3,000/child for children age 6 through age 18
- credit increase to $3,600/child for children under age 6
- the IRS will create a portal which will allow parents to register for monthly advance payments:
- $300/month for children under 6
- $250/month for children age 6-18
- direct deposits will start on July 1, 2021
- the portal will also allow parents to add new-born children during the year
- CTC will start to phase out for individuals earning over $75,000 and for couples filing jointly at $150,000. For each $1,000 earned above this CTC AGI limit, the CTC refund will be reduced by $50
- Unemployment –costing the treasury some $246 billion.
- first $10,200 in UI received in 2020 non-taxable (>$150,000 total)
- FPUC $300 weekly extended to September 6, 2021
- PUA extended to August 29, 2021 (max 74 weeks)
- PEUC extended to August 29, 2021 (max 48 weeks)
- Nonprofit cost-share reduction from 50% to 25%
- Rental and Mortgage Assistance
- provides additional funding to ERA Program
- eviction and foreclosure moratorium extended through September
- 15% SNAP Increase– extended to September 30, 2021
- WIC Increase–through September 30, 2021
- P-EBT Expansion– expands P-EBT disbursements for children’s summer meals
- Dependent Care Credit
- fully refundable
- increases to $8,000 for 1 child, and to $16,000 for two or more children
- increases the credit to cover up to 50%
- minimum income threshold $125,000, maximum phaseout $400,000
- Dependent Care Account– the dependent care contribution limit raised to $10,500
- EITC Changes– for year 2021 the changes for childless claimants are:
- minimum age is lowered to 19
- maximum age is waived
- income limit is raised to $21,000
- maximum credit is raised to $1,502
- Health Insurance Premiums
- COBRA – 100% subsidized to September 30, 2021
- Affordable Care Act (health insurance exchange plans):
- no credit subsidy limits- cap removed for 2021 and 2022
- premium subsidies capped at 8.5% of income for 2021 and 2022
- forgives taxpayers who received too much in subsidies in 2020
- income for ACA – 133% of the Federal Poverty Levels- excess income disregarded
- Expanded FFCRA– extended to September 30, 2021, adds an additional 10 days of leave, no min or max employee waivers and covers leave to get and recover from vaccination.
- Extended ERC– to December 31, 2021
- PPP– additional $7.25B to the program (expands eligibility to certain non-profits)
- EIDL – additional $15 billion
- 50% loss and less than 10 employees for the $10k grant
- for those with 10 employees or less, a flat $5k grant
- Restaurant Fund– creates a $25B Grant Fund
- new restaurants can also apply
- subtract restaurant’s 2019 income by 2020 income, less PPP received, to receive funding for for revenue losses
Dec 2020 – $900 billion in Coronavirus stimulus benefits / Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
You can read through the 5,593 pages of it here.
- Stimulus checks of $600 per adult and per child. (deposited into the bank account on your return or checks mailed)
- Cost – $166 billion. Single filers making $75,000+ and married filers making $150,000+ AGI will get less at a rate of $5 per $100 of income. The phaseout with children will be $12,000 higher per child so a couple with 4 kids will phase out completely at $222,000.
- Goes by income on your 2019 OR 2020 tax return, and if you had a child in 2020, you can still claim both the $500 March stimulus and this $600 stimulus on your 2020 tax return!
- Joint returns, where one filer is not a US citizen, will now be eligible for stimulus checks. This is retroactive to the March stimulus as well.
- Unemployment benefits: Cost – $120 billion.
- Federal addon to other UI of $300 per week for up to 11 weeks.
- PUA (gig and self-employed workers who lose work due to coronavirus) extended 11 weeks.
- PEUC (assistance after state benefits run out) extended 11 weeks.
- Extended through the benefit week ending April 10, 2021; however, no new PEUC or PUA claims will be accepted after March 14, 2021
- A federal moratorium on evictions: Cost – $25 billion. Will be extended from 12/31/20 to 1/31/21 for people to use to pay past due and future rent or utility payments.
- PPP forgivable loans Cost – $284 billion. 501(c)6 nonprofits are now eligible for PPP loans. Loans of 2.5 times the monthly payroll, capped at $20,833 in funding per employee and can spend it over 24 weeks with at least 60% going towards payroll. If they didn’t take the full PPP previously, they can claim it now. Allowable expenses now include supplier costs, PPE, and property damage due to looting. If they are taking a 2nd PPP loan they must demonstrate a loss of 25% of greater in any quarter of 2020 as compared to the same quarter in 2019.
- If you received forgiveness on a PPP loan, you can deduct the expenses paid with that loan.
- You no longer have to deduct EIDL grants from PPP forgiveness.
- Loans under $150,000 can be forgiven using a 1 page form.
- Accommodation and food establishments can take a forgivable loan of 3.5 times monthly payroll.
- Employee Retention Tax Credit can now be taken by employers in addition to PPP loans, whereas previously you had to choose one or the other. The refundable payroll tax credit is increased from a cap of $5,000 to $14,000 by changing the calculation from 50% of wages paid up to $10,000 to 70% of wages paid up to $10,000 for any quarter.
- EIDL grants for an emergency grant for small businesses of up to $10,000 in low-income neighborhoods.
- Earned Income Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits will allow you to use your choice of 2019 or 2020 earned income for qualification on your 2020 tax return, though you will need to include unemployment income when calculating your 2020 AGI.
- Business meals will be 100% deductible in 2021 and 2022.
- Food stamps Cost – $13 billion and will give 15% more benefits from 1/1/21-6/30/21.
- K-12 schools Cost – $54 billion in funding,
- Higher education Cost – $23 billion.
- Child care providers Cost – $10 billion.
- Vaccines: Cost – $69 billion to make them available for free to those who need it.
- Airlines Cost – $15 billion for 4 months of “payroll assistance.” That comes out to $375,000 of assistance per furloughed job!
- Amtrak, airports, buses, state highways, and other transportation also will receive bailouts, as will live event venues like theaters and museums.
- $7 billion to increase broadband access.
- Post office $10 billion grant.
- State and local governments can spend their 2020 CARES funding throughout 2021.
- Federal student loan forgiveness for historically Black colleges. Cost -$1.3 billion
- $300,000,000 for Migrant and Refugee Assistance pg.. 147
- $10,000 per person for student loan bailout
- $100,000,000 to NASA
- $20,000,000,000 to the USPS
- $300,000,000 to the Endowment for the Arts –
- $300,000,000 for the Endowment for the Humanities
- $15,000,000 for Veterans Employment Training
- $435,000,000 for mental health support
- $30,000,000,000 for the Department of Education stabilization fund
- $200,000,000 to Safe Schools Emergency Response to Violence Program
- $300,000,000 to Public Broadcasting / NPR
- $500,000,000 to Museums and Libraries
- $720,000,000 to Social Security Admin of which 200,000,000 is to help people. The rest is for admin costs..
- $25,000,000 for Cleaning supplies for the Capitol Building. pg 136
- $7,500,000 to the Smithsonian for additional salaries
- $35,000,000 to the JFK Center for Performing Arts
- $25,000,000 for additional salary for House of Representatives
- $3,000,000,000 upgrade to the IT department at the VA
- $315,000,000 for State Department Diplomatic Programs
- $95,000,000 for the Agency of International Development
- $300,000,000 for International Disaster Assistance
- $90,000,000 for the Peace Corp pg. 148
- $13,000,000 to Howard University pg. 121
- $9,000,000 Misc. Senate Expenses pg. 134
- $100,000,000 to Essential Air carriers pg. 162
- $40,000,000,000 Take Responsibility to Workers and Families Act pg. 164
- $1,000,000,000 Airlines Recycle and Save Program pg. 163
- $25,000,000 FAA for administrative costs pg. 165
- $492,000,000 National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) pg. 167
- $526,000,000 Grants to Amtrak to remain available if needed through 2021 pg. 168
- $25,000,000,000 for Transit Infrastructure pg. 169
- $3,000,000 Maritime Administration pg. 172
- $5,000,000 Salaries and Expensive Office of the Inspector General pg. 172
- $2,500,000 Public and Indian Housing pg. 175
- $5,000,000 Community Planning and Development pg. 175
- $2,500,000 Office of Housing
- The Pentagon’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Taskforce has 180 days to disclose/release the classified information about the current intelligence on advanced aerial threats from UFO’s and anomalous aerial vehicles to the senate intelligence committee.
- ETC
March 2020 – President Trump has signed the $2.2 Trillion Coronavirus Stimulus Bill/CARES Act into law.
Here are some of the things that will do:
- Stimulus checks, up to $1,200 per adult and $500 per child as described in this post. Many already received these funds direct deposited into their bank on their 2018/2019 returns. Others will get checks in the mail. Even non-filers are entitled.
- Unemployed benefits of $600 per week for up to 4 months, on top of state benefits. Also extends unemployment payments from 26 to 39 weeks. These will not only cover regular employees, but also gig economy and other self-employed workers who lose work due to coronavirus! This will run through 12/31/20.
- Many banks, credit cards, and companies are allowing payment deferrals without interest or penalties for consumers who ask for them. The new law won’t allow negative marks on your credit report due to taking advantage of these programs.
- Small businesses can apply for an emergency grant of up to $10,000.
- The SBA will distribute $350 billion in forgivable loans, up to $10MM per small business equal to 250% of an employer’s average monthly payroll, on favorable terms with no collateral needed. To qualify, a company must make a good faith certification that they need the loan based on current economic conditions. The entire principal of the loan can be forgiven based on keeping employees on payroll through the end of June and the forgiven amount will not be considered income. If you receive the $10,000 grant you would have that amount deducted from your loan forgiveness.
- Businesses with existing SBA loans can defer paying for up to 6 months without interest or penalties.
- Businesses with a 50% quarterly drop in gross receipts compared to past years can get a refundable tax credit for half the wages paid to employees, up to $10,000/employee as long as they keep paying wages and health benefits. Small businesses that take advantage of this will not be eligible for the SBA forgivable loans.
- Suspend federal student loan payments through September 30 without interest or penalties. Employers can also provide up to $5,250 in tax-free student loan repayment benefits.
- Employers and self-employed individuals can defer the 6.2% social security tax with half of the deferred amount owed by 12/31/21 and half by 12/31/22.
- Additional funding for food stamps, child nutrition, and food banks.
- $100 billion payments to hospitals for lost revenue and additional payments for treating patients with coronavirus.
- $16 billion for equipment like ventilators and masks.
- $500 billion of loans for businesses and state and local governments.
- Airlines will get bailed out in exchange for limits on stock buyback for the next year, executive compensation, and retaining employees and airports served.
- Money for the national guard, farmers, schools, distilleries making hand sanitizer, defense, post office, and research for developing coronavirus medicine and vaccines.
The House And Senate Have Passed The Coronavirus Stimulus Bill; Here Is How To Find Out How Much Your Check Will Be For
The House of Representatives has just passed the $2 trillion Coronavirus Stimulus Bill. It passed the senate on Wednesday and will now go in front of President Trump for his signature.
Single filers making less than $75,000 will get $1,200 plus $500 for each dependent child under 17. Married filers making less than $150,000 will get $2,400 plus $500 for each dependent child under 17. That amount is phased out at a rate of $5 per $100 of income until a single filer makes $99,000 or a married couple without children makes $198,000. The phaseout with children will be $10,000 higher per child, so a couple with 2 kids will phaseout completely at $218,000 and with 4 kids at $238,000.
The Washington Post has a stimulus check calculator here.
Some 83% of Americans will qualify for a stimulus check.
Once you reach 17 you can get your own $1,200 check if you file your own tax return and aren’t claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return.
The stimulus payment is not taxable.
The IRS does not require enrollment and automatically sent out checks or direct deposits based on your 2019 tax return income, or your 2018 tax return if you have not yet filed for 2019 return.
It’s worth noting that the income test is actually based on the 2020 tax year, but the Wall Street Journal reports that you won’t need to pay back money if you make too much in 2020.
On the flip side, if you have more dependent children in 2020 than you did on your 2018 or 2019 return, you can still get the stimulus credit for them when you file your 2020 return. Plus if your 2020 income drops from 2019, you can get an additional credit based on your lower income when you file your 2020 return in 2021.
One of the flaws in the Stimulus Bill was that it was designed to send out checks to people who filed tax returns. Many Americans don’t have any taxable income and don’t file taxes.
According to news reports, you can now claim a stimulus direct deposit or check even if you don’t file taxes through the TurboTax site CLICK here.
Selecting the direct deposit option will mean payments starting April 9, while checks will be sent out in late April and early May.