A third stimulus check could be on the way sometime, but some taxpayers may want to know that they could lose the proposed $1,400 payment by filing their taxes too early. While there is currently no word on when another round of pandemic relief payments may come, we do know that the amount of money an individual or joint-filing married couple earns annually will determine the amount that they receive. This, as Yahoo! Finance explains it, is where the chances of missing out on the next stimulus come in.
The outlet explains that, as was the case with the two previous coronavirus relief bills, the one on deck to be passed next will limit who can get the stimulus payments. The payments will not be sent to Americans who fall into three categories. Anyone who is an individual filer that earns over $100,000 annually will not be sent a stimulus payment. Additionally, couples who file together that earn $200,000 or more will also not be eligible for payments. Lastly, all head-of-household filers who have an income of $150,000 per year will not be provided a relief check.
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Similarly, smaller payments — less than $1,400 — will be sent to citizens in three different groups. The first is individual filers who have an adjusted gross income — this is taxable income before deductions — over $75,000 but lower than $100,000. The second is married couples who file their taxes jointly and have a collective income over $150,000 but less than $200,000. Finally, the third group is “head-of-household” filers who have an income greater than $112,500 but lower than $150,000.
The IRS uses the most recent tax filing to determine who is eligible and for what amount. Currently, single tax filers who earn less than $75,000 and couples who earn less than $150,000 are able to receive the full amount designated. However, for anyone who earned more in 2020 than they did in 2019, they are at risk of not being eligible.
It’s no secret that 2020 was challenging for many people all across the nation, and for millions part of the challenge was a significant decrease, or total loss, of income. Anyone who started out the year with comfortable finances but ended it with a lot less may want to be aware of the details regarding stimulus eligibility. If the data reveals they made too much to qualify for a payment, even if their income has severely decreased since, they may not be able to get the help they need, and waiting a little bit of time to file those taxes could help them get the money they desperately need now.
