Will There Be a Second Round of Stimulus Checks in May?

With many U.S. taxpayers having already received their coronavirus relief stimulus checks, some are wondering if there will be a second round of payments in May. According to report from NBC 4, some citizens will be getting their checks this month, but the payments are from the initial CARES Act legislation. At this time, no new stimulus package has been decided on on.

Notably, President Trump has commented on the possibility of a second stimulus package. However, he has made it clear that his plan is to get a Payroll Tax Cuts provision into the bill. “I told Steve [Mnuchin, Treasury Secretary] just today, we’re not doing anything unless we get a payroll tax cut,” Trump said during a May 3 town hall on Fox News. “That is so important to the success of our country.” Payroll taxes include Social Security and Medicare from employees, as well as from employers. The purpose behind payroll tax cuts is to take less money from workers, as well as employers.

Those who are critical of the payroll tax cuts plan argue that it would not be helpful for citizens who are currently out of work and not receiving a paycheck anyway. There are also others who feel that it could be detrimental for the Social Security and Medicare programs, which are in place to meet the needs of elderly and low income citizens.

Garrett Watson, senior policy analyst for the Tax Foundation, recently spoke out about the possibility of a payroll tax cut, expressing that he does not believe it would be helpful. “When you do a temporary tax cut like what the White House is proposing, the literature generally finds there isn’t a big effect on employment levels,” Watson stated. “If you look at the 2009, 2 percentage points payroll tax cut under the Obama administration, the evidence bears out that most of that federal tax cut was saved by consumers.”

Watson went on to address how Republican and Democrat politicians have been at odds over the notion. “On the left, the concern is more the downstream effects of how well targeted it is to low income individuals who are not employed right now — and that it might be more of a windfall for the higher earners folks who are currently employed,” he said.