Who is Qualified for the Coronavirus Stimulus Check?

A few weeks ago, the Trump administration agreed to send out direct checks to Americans. This decision was part of the economic stimulus package which is aimed at stimulating and sustaining the US economy.

In the early hours of Wednesday, the US Congress came to an agreement on the nearly $2 trillion economic stimulus program which includes sending direct stimulus checks to Americans. The stimulus checks program probably wouldn’t take effect until May and eligible single Americans are to get $1,200, married couples would get $2,400, while individuals or couples with children will receive $500 per child under age 17.

Contrary to what many may think, the government isn’t throwing around free money; rather, stimulus checks would aid the government to stimulate the economy by making spending money available to a wide range of consumers. When consumers spend this money, consumption will be boosted and revenues generated for businesses. In effect, the economy would remain in balance.

The following people may not receive Coronavirus stimulus check

"If you earn more than $75,000 as an individual, $112,500 as the head of household or $150,000 if you are married and filing jointly, the amount of those checks starts to get reduced. Checks will be reduced by $5 for every $100 exceeding those thresholds. It completely phases out at $99,000 in income for individuals, $146,500 for head of household filers with one child and $198,000 for joint filers with no children."

Earlier this month, the Trump administration made its plans known of sending out stimulus checks to Americans to help them weather the storm of economic hardships caused by the coronavirus epidemic.

On behalf of the President, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin announced that the stimulus checks would be sent out in “two weeks.” Though the stimulus checks still stand, getting cash to Americans in two weeks was certainly not going to be feasible as it would take longer than two weeks for the IRS to process the stimulus checks. During the great recession of 2001 and the financial crisis of 2008, it took the IRS six weeks and three months, respectively to send out stimulus checks to Americans.

Concerning this, Erica York of the Tax Foundation says that “certainly from what we’ve seen in the past, it’s taken a pretty significant amount of time to get checks out after a policy is put in place.”

The delay in sending out stimulus checks vary. In 2008, the delay was caused by the issue on ground ordering Americans to file their tax return before getting the check. Once that was over, it took the next 8 to 12 weeks before the stimulus checks were sent out.

Who can qualify?

• Individuals with an adjusted gross income of $75,000 while those who make over $99,000 do not qualify.

• Individuals with qualifying income levels based on 2019 federal tax returns.

NB: Provisions have been made for individuals who do not earn enough income to file returns. Lower and middle-income individuals would receive only two-thirds of the benefits. About 90% of Americans will benefit from this bill.