BIG STIMULUS CHANGE
Big Stimulus check changes ahead for dependents? What we know now!
The third stimulus payment could change the rules for dependents and bring some families thousands of dollars more.
Here are the different proposals on the table.
Congress is going to start hammering out the details of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package proposal this week. While the bill — which includes a third stimulus check for up to $1,400 — has not yet been finalized, it does include a change to the qualifications that many have wanted: extending eligibility to dependents of all ages rather than excluding anyone over the age of 16 from counting toward the family total.
What’s more, lawmakers are also considering whether dependents should be allocated the same $1,400 in stimulus check money as the per-adult maximum, according to The Washington Post. That goes for dependents who are children, young adults or older adult relatives. The potential rule change could bring in far more money for families with dependents this time around, if a new stimulus payment happens, which seems likely. The total your family could receive will also likely depend heavily on the outcome of a current debate to make the third check more “targeted.”
We go over the new details and bring you up to speed on the stimulus check qualifications for your family, including how to receive missing stimulus money when you file your federal taxes this year and who the IRS counts as an adult for stimulus checks. This story is frequently updated.
One more way the third stimulus check could change up the rules
In addition to opening up the definition of a dependent to all ages, Biden’s $1,400 stimulus check proposal also seeks to include all mixed-status families. This could potentially mean that families with noncitizen parents but citizen children (who were born in the US, for example) would be eligible for stimulus money.
The second check made it possible for families with one citizen parent to receive a payment, and the first stimulus check blocked all families with one noncitizen spouse if they filed jointly, even if they claimed a US citizen dependent. The same restriction applied to a noncitizen head of household who claimed a US citizen child as part of the previous tax return. Here’s what to know about citizenship and stimulus checks.
How could my dependents change my total stimulus payment?
Dependents don’t receive their own stimulus checks, but they can add funds to the household’s total. Children 16 years and younger who you claimed in your last tax filing added a flat rate of $600 to the household’s second check. That’s $100 more per dependent than in the first round of payments. The total amount of money allocated in any of the three stimulus payments would depend on your adjusted gross income, which you can also find on your taxes.
If the current proposal becomes law, a third stimulus check could add an extra $1,400 per dependent of any age to the household’s total. It seems likely the new stimulus funds will be targeted to families with a certain income threshold.
Under the current proposal, individuals with incomes up to $50,000 would get the full $1,400 payment. Heads of household earning up to $75,000 would also qualify. Married couples with earnings up to $100,000 would get a $2,800 payment, according to the Washington Post. As was the case in the first and second round of checks, the more you make above that threshold, the less stimulus money you would be eligible for, for yourself and your dependents.
However, the way the stimulus check formula currently stands, the amount you get per dependent may not be as simple as adding up everyone in your household — and that’s because of that sliding scale just mentioned. Instead, dependents can actually bring some families a partial payment where they otherwise might not get any at all. Read more on that here and see for yourself with our $1,400 stimulus check calculat
