The third stimulus check is anything but simple. Here's the latest news.
Sarah Tew/CNETThe new $1,400 stimulus checks are now going out, with the IRS and US Treasury sending the first wave of payments directly to bank accounts this weekend.
But that's just the part of the news. There's a lot to unpack in regard to these new payments. Significant changes have been made to who qualifies for a payment, as well as how much individuals, families and dependents may receive. The new bill also adjusts citizenship-based eligibility requirements. And because the IRS is making payments during this year's tax season, your taxes also play a big part in determining whether you'll get a payment and when.
Here's everything we know now, with the IRS now sending out payments, including how the total for your family could be more than just $1,400. For more on stimulus checks, here's guidance on how to claim any missing stimulus money, what we know about whether you can sign up for direct deposit, and how to track your third payment. This story is frequently updated.
Stimulus checks are going out now
Yes, right now. The Treasury announced it started making payments on Friday, with more going out this weekend and into the coming weeks, by direct deposit and through the mail as a check or EIP prepaid debit card.
When your payment may arrive is a bit more complicated. However, we've mapped out some possibilities for which groups could start to get their $1,400 -- and how long delivery of the checks could last.
Watch this: Stimulus check 3: How much money you'll get
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There's an income limit for the third check
The third stimulus check comes with a $1,400-per-person maximum. To "target" or restrict the third check to lower- and middle-income households, the legislation includes eligibility rules that exclude individuals and families at the highest income levels. An individual with an AGI (adjusted gross income) of at least $80,000 a year would hit the payment cutoff, as would a head of household earning $120,000 and a couple filing jointly with an AGI of $160,000.
However, any dependent a taxpayer claims could qualify for a $1,400 payment. But unlike the first two stimulus payments, people above the hard upper limit wouldn't be able to get a partial check by having dependents. Here's how the stimulus check formula would work. If you want to see for yourself, try our stimulus calculator for the third check.
Stimulus check income limits
| Full $1,400 per person maximum (based on AGI) | Not eligible (based on AGI) | |
| Single taxpayer | Less than $75,000 | $80,000 or more |
| Head of household | Less than $112,500 | $120,000 or more |
| Married couple filing jointly | Less than $150,000 | $160,000 or more |
More dependents will get a stimulus check this time
The new stimulus bill opens the qualifications to roughly 13.5 million more dependents for a third stimulus payment -- for $1,400 apiece -- than the first two payments did by expanding the definition of a dependent. With the new check, any dependent -- child or adult -- would count toward a payment. With the first check and the second, Congress included children age 16 and under but excluded dependents 17 and older.
Some people won't qualify for the check
The strict income cap Congress has set for the third check means you could quickly be disqualified from receiving a check or receiving much less than potential amount the House and Senate agreed to. We explore that here, including changes in your personal life that may have an effect, such as if you got a raise in the past year or if you claim fewer dependents this time around. Here's who might not qualify for a new stimulus check.
The third check could still see some delays
The IRS is now sending out the checks. But the agency has a full plate: We're in the middle of tax season, with an April 15 deadline for taxpayers to submit their returns. It's a full-time job for the IRS to process refund payments, even without being stretched by the ongoing pandemic, a backlog from 2019's taxes and the job of processing this new round of stimulus payments -- using a new formula -- and implementing other pieces of the new relief bill, including the expanded child tax credit.
Here's what to know about stimulus checks and taxes. Read more below for which tax year the IRS will use for you.
Some families could get more than before. Others would see less.
Angela Lang/CNETHow to know if the IRS will use your 2019 or 2020 taxes to calculate payment
Tax season and the timing of a third stimulus check overlap. What that means is that the IRS will base your total on income from either your 2020 or 2019 tax return (or even earlier), whichever it has on hand when it determines the size of your payment. If you qualify for the full $1,400 based on your 2020 taxes, but your check total was lower because the IRS based it on your 2019 taxes, you'd have to claim the difference, possibly when you file in 2022, if not sooner.
Here's how your check could be affected if you file for a tax extension, and what would happen if the IRS pushes the tax deadline past April 15 (this doesn't appear likely).
The IRS' time frame for sending your payment
The IRS and the Department of the Treasury took just days to deliver the second stimulus checks, starting shortly after former President Donald Trump signed December's stimulus bill. They had no choice: The language of the bill provided only a 17-day window to send the checks. There were millions of direct deposit errors, and now anyone missing stimulus money will have to claim it as part of filing their 2020 taxes. (Yes, even people who don't otherwise file taxes.)
This time, the IRS will have until Dec. 31, 2021, to automatically send a third check to recipients, with taxpayers and non-filers alike claiming any missing money as a Recovery Rebate Credit in 2022. Here are possible timelines for the third stimulus check, for every payment group.
What you can do to get your payment faster
Your stimulus check and taxes are tightly intertwined. There are some important things to know about how your taxes can affect whether you'd qualify for a third stimulus check, depending on both the eligibility rules and your 2020 adjusted gross income. But taxes are now also tied to any missing stimulus money from the first two checks that you might have to claim or trace. Some members of Congress have asked the IRS to postpone this year's tax-filing deadline, but we haven't heard more on this publicly from the IRS.
If you file your taxes sooner, you can get a refund (plus missing stimulus money) faster than if you, for example, file a tax extension. We also recommend setting up direct deposit with the IRS to get a catch-up payment faster -- and potentially get a new stimulus check faster, too. If you moved recently, it's important to let the IRS and USPS know.
Stimulus check money could add up fast -- as long as you're qualified to receive it.
Sarah Tew/CNETQualifications are expanding this time around
While the hard income cap will disqualify millions, the third stimulus check also extends qualifications to dependents of any age. That includes college students, older adult relatives and dependents of all ages with disabilities -- not just those under 17 years old.
The second change to eligibility includes all "mixed-status households" with one or more family members who aren't US citizens. An example would be parents who aren't US citizens, but their US-born children are. The second stimulus checks made families with one US-citizen spouse eligible. However, people who are nonresident aliens won't qualify for a stimulus check in the third round.
Read more: Stimulus money and tax breaks for kids and older adults: Not just a $1,400 check
Why others could expect a larger payment this time
A larger maximum total per person is an obvious way your household would see more money from a third check, but there's more to it than that. Since the upper limit for the second check was $600 per adult with an extra $600 per child dependent (according to the IRS' formula), more people hit the upper income limit for receiving a second payment. And that means they didn't actually qualify to get any stimulus money at all.
A third stimulus check will make more groups of people eligible to receive money (namely noncitizens who pay taxes) and bring a larger total check to qualified individuals and their families, including $1,400 payments to dependents. A change in your circumstances might also mean you qualify for more money this time. Here are other ways a third stimulus check could put more money in your pocket.
For more information about stimulus checks, here's information about other funding that could be in the next stimulus package, how to estimate your third stimulus check and everything your stimulus check has to do with taxes (and the other way around.)
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