The Tax Credits aka the Stimulus Checks -- §§ 2201 et seq of the CARES Act

The Tax Credits aka the Stimulus Checks -- §§ 2201 et seq of the CARES Act

The tax credits are $1200 for an individual, $2400 for a couple filing a joint return and $500 per dependent child

The tax credits are reduced by 5% of the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income in excess of $150,000 for a joint return, $112,500 for a single head of household and $75,000 for a single individual.

Excluded are: non-resident aliens and individuals covered as dependents by another taxpayer.

Secretary may disburse the funds electronically to those who have authorized delivery of refunds electronically. Otherwise expect a check in the mail sometime between May and September 2020.

To qualify for the refund/tax credit, you must have a social security number for each person qualifying for the credit. In other words, in mixed status families, those with Social Security numbers get the checks; those without SSN’s do not get a check. This is meant to and will disqualify undocumented workers.

Seniors receiving Social Security but not filing tax returns (i.e. their income is too low) are supposed to get a check without separately filing a tax return. There has been confusion about this with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin first saying they must file tax returns to get the check and later retracting that statement after much criticism from Congresspersons who said the language of the Act did not require seniors who do not otherwise owe income taxes to file.

Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin

Dated: 4/6/19