Stimulus Deal – Update

On April 1, 2020 the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service announced that Social Security beneficiaries that typically do not have to file a tax return will not need to file an abbreviated return just to receive an Economic Impact Payment. Payments will be received as direct deposit or check, as they would normally receive their benefits.

The IRS originally said that to qualify for a payment, individuals would need to file some sort of tax return. The change comes after lawmakers urged the Department of the Treasury to send Social Security recipients their payments automatically.

Eligible taxpayers will automatically receive an economic impact payment of up to $1,200 for individuals or $2,400 for married couples filing jointly. For every qualifying child, the payment will be an additional $500.

Are you Eligible for the Economic Impact Payment?

Income thresholds:

• $150,000 for a joint return
• $112,500 for a head of household, and
• $75,000 for all other taxpayers

For taxpayers with income above those thresholds, $5 will be reduced for every $100 over the certain filing threshold. The payment is completely phased out for single tax payers with income exceeding $99,000, joint taxpayers with no children with an income exceeding $198,000 and head of household taxpayers with one child and income exceeding $146,500.

Things to Remember

• Unless you are a Social Security recipient, you must have filed your 2018 or 2019 return to receive a payment.
• The IRS will use your 2019 return, Form SSA-1099 and/or Form RRB-1099 to calculate if you receive a payment, unless you have not filed, then they will use your 2018 documents.
• The IRS will use your bank account information from your last return or Social Security payment to direct deposit your payment.
• The IRS is developing a portal to give them your direct deposit information if they do not have it from your prior tax returns.
• The economic impact payments will be available throughout the rest of 2020.
• Individuals who have no income, as well as those whose entire income comes from Social Security benefits, are eligible for the payment.

The IRS will post all key information on IRS.gov/coronavirus as soon as it becomes available.