No products in the cart.
Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here.
One of the cornerstones of the $2 trillion coronavirus aid package enacted by President Trump Friday is the direct payment of money from the federal government to individuals and families, but many Americans are wondering: Do they qualify and if so, how much?
Leading business experts joined “The Daily Briefing” Monday to answer questions submitted by the public and break down who can expect a check, as well as the amount they’ll likely receive.
Question: My twins were born on Jan. 3rd of this year. Will we be eligible to receive the $500 per child?
Couples who filed a joint 2019 tax return are eligible for a payment of up to $2,400, plus an additional $500 per child.
“If you haven’t filed your 2019 tax returns … they will use 2018 tax returns,” said Gene Marks, the president of The Marks Group. “Unfortunately, if you had twins born in 2020, that won’t be part of the calculation and you won’t get that dependent care payment.”
Fox Business correspondent Dagen McDowell noted that if a couple qualifies based on the income threshold cut off — $75,000 per individual, $150,000 per married couple — they will receive an additional $500 per child added to their 2020 tax refund or subtracted from their 2020 income tax bill.
Question: I haven’t yet filed my 2019 taxes. I claimed my then 17-year-old daughter as a dependant in 2018. It looks like we are eligible to get the $2,400 plus $500 based on last year, but will my daughter also get her own check now that she’s a working adult?
Marks said the question is a common one, and that as long as the daughter was claimed as a dependant on the most recent tax return, she would not receive a check of her own, but the $500 per child offered in the bill would likely be added to her parent’s reimbursement.
“The rule of thumb that you have to remember is that there’s no double-dipping, so if the daughter is being claimed as a dependent on the parent’s tax return then that’s a reimbursement they will get,” Marks explained.
“If the daughter is over the age of 17, and filing her own tax return and you’re not claiming her as a dependant, then she will get her own stimulus check. It’s either one or the other.”
McDowell added that the plan generally does not provide for anyone that can be claimed as a dependent — including adults with disabilities.
“It is roughly about 21 million Americans …[who] will not get money if claimed as a dependent if they are an adult,” she explained.
Question: If the bank account I used to file my 2018 taxes has closed and I haven’t yet filed for 2019, how will the Treasury Department access my banking information?
According to the bill, payments will be made “as rapidly as possible” — and no later than Dec. 31, 2020 — via direct deposit to an account that the person has authorized for tax refunds or federal payments on or after Jan. 1, 2018.
Partner and Business Development Leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers Mitch Roschelle said that if there is an issue with the direct deposit into your checking account, a check will be mailed to the last known home address instead.
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE
“There will most likely be a form available — because the IRS loves forms — to go out and claim those checks, if you end up not getting one,” he added.
“We know everyone needs the money now, but all of this will be settled on people’s 2020 tax returns. So if, for some reason, you don’t get it, you will basically have a credit against any taxes due in 2020.”
Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.
