Stimulus Check 2: The Similarities and Differences From the First Payment

Help is on the way for many in America as a second federal stimulus package is in the works. While more and more details continue to come out each day, particularly after Monday when Senate Republicans shared information about the HEALS Act, many people are wondering what exactly the financial support will look like, especially compared to the first check that came back in April.

When it comes to the proposed bill, which continues to be tossed back and forth and looked over by officials, there are a lot of components that look quite similar to what was included in the original stimulus package. This includes the amount, which was an often debated topic over the past few proposals, as some felt the check should be higher, with some even reaching $2,000. There are also a few notable changes, one of which should come as assistance to college-aged dependants. Here is a look at all of the similarities and differences that come with the proposed second stimulus check.

Similar: Amount in Each Check

At the core of this stimulus check, the total amount each individual who is eligible would receive is exactly the same as the first round of payments. Any one person who qualifies would bring in $1,200 while each couple would get a $2,400 check. Like the first one, there will also be an additional $500 added for each dependant in the household. There will also be the same income limits. 

While the amount had been debated throughout prior proposals — there were talks of getting one to surpass $2,000 — it seems as though the common ground among officials lands on the $1,200 amount. 

Different: Dependants

As previously mentioned, any dependant in a household will net $500, the same as before. The difference, however, is who is eligible. In the first round, the cut-off was 17-years-old and under the Child Tax Credit, which meant dependants who were in college were not eligible for the bonus. The second stimulus check will resolve that issue and award any qualified dependant with $500. This should prove to help fix the issue that left many college students on the outside looking in when it came to stimulus support. 

Similar: The Tax Year

While there are a lot of complexities to this bill, the one that was often discussed in the first round was how exactly the eligibility would be determined. The first one used an individual’s 2019 income, which will also be the basis for the second round of checks. Another similarity is that anyone who has not filed taxes for 2019 yet, whatever information is available from the 2018 report would then be used by the IRS. 

Different: The Deceased and Incarcerated

One of the most notable developments that occurred as the first payments began to go out was where they were going. While some saw delays and others saw wrong information being applied, a surprise happened when the deceased began to have checks pop up. Then to add to that, those who were incarcerated also saw stimulus checks coming their way. This was in contradiction to the Social Security Act, which bans those in prison from receiving any benefit payments. After prisoners began to receive them, the IRS demanded that they return them. 

The second set of stimulus checks aims to fix that problem. While the first one did not include any language to prevent these payments from going to those who had died or were in jail, the second bill will explicitly include the proper verbatim to ensure that does not happen again. 

Similar: Refundable Tax Credit

A confusing aspect when the first set of checks came out, the second round, like the previous one, will essentially act as refundable tax credit. Though it’ll be based on the prior year’s income, the checks will serve as an advance for the 2020 tax year. For those concerned that their income could slip this year compared to what the prior year was, or in 2018 if a more recent filing hadn’t been made, anyone who is eligible for more can collect the difference the following year. 

Similar: How It Arrives

The second stimulus check will also have the same procedure when it comes to personally being delivered to each eligible individual. Direct deposit will remain as an option for those who have signed up for it. Those who have not will receive a check in the mail. The IRS also likely will have the same “Get My Payment” tool in use to help people figure out how they’ll receive it. There’s a chance that a pretty quick turnaround will happen with the latest round of checks since they’ll follow the already established information that was set up back in April for the first batch of payments.  

So When Will it Come?

With more information now known, the last remaining question on the minds of everyone is when exactly this help could be on its way. The hope among Senate Republicans is that this bill gets signed some time in the next couple of weeks. There remains no active deadline or target date, though Congress goes into recess after Aug. 7 so that date would mark the last opportunity before it moves into September, to come to an agreement, but there is hope that these checks could start to roll out some time in August and arrive before summer ends. The CARES Act was passed in March and saw checks begin to arrive in the middle of April about two weeks after it went through.