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Not sure where best to put this, so I chose Other Investing. Already, stimulus checks ($600) are indeed coming. I have an email from my credit union. Supposed to be deposited on 01 January, 2021.
Some people are requesting their $2,000 stimulus checks from Mitch McConnell's Venmo account.
Citizens took to Twitter to document their attempts as well as to encourage others to do the same. One, claiming McConnell has a Venmo account tied to his general Senate email address, asserted, "I'm getting my #Stimulus one way or another."
Some people are requesting their $2,000 stimulus checks from Mitch McConnell's Venmo account.
Citizens took to Twitter to document their attempts as well as to encourage others to do the same. One, claiming McConnell has a Venmo account tied to his general Senate email address, asserted, "I'm getting my #Stimulus one way or another."
That's funny, but I doubt they'll receive anything from that curmudgeon!
If you get the deposit on the 1st of January, 2021, is the income it ultimately is tested against income in 2021? My tax program claimed more of the 1st deposit by applying the income test to 2020 where RMDs were waived. 2019 income was originally used for the deposit. RMDs aren't waved in 2021 so if you have large RMDs like we do, will you qualify pre-RMD if you received the deposit on 31st December, 2020, but face a large reduction if you received it on 1st January 2021? (We don't need the money and think it silly to give it to us instead of more needy people. I was testing my taxes in TaxAct today to see if I needed any increase in my last quarterly estimated tax. TaxAct increased the 1st deposit and it made me wonder about the applicable tax year for the 2nd deposit.)
According to the statute (see p. 1966 out of 5593!), this 2021 "stimulus" check is an advance of a tax credit on your 2020 return - same as the last check.
You can't file your 2020 tax return before January 27th, which is why I think the IRS is saying that it will get all payments sent by mid January. Your tax software will have to be updated because it doesn't currently include code or worksheets to handle the second payment.
Nah, I just looked for $600 in the text (it's the 8th one counting from the top).
The text itself reads: "there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by subtitle A [income tax] for the first taxable year beginning in 2020" and goes on to say $600/eligible individual and $600/qualifying child.
To give credit where it is due, I got the link last week from JoeTaxpayer in misc.taxes.moderated. He asked about the timing. There was one response, from Alan. It was similar to what I posted above. Following Reagan's advice (trust but verify) I looked at the legislation myself.
I just updated TurboTax and it has added lines to deal with the second stimulus credit. So the calculation is for a credit against our 2020 taxes as noted above.
Short answer: the credit is what it is; you get to keep it all.
You don't have to pay back your stimulus check, because it's a refundable tax credit
Your stimulus payment is technically a refundable tax credit, which reduces your 2020 tax bill on a dollar-for-dollar basis. It's like having store credit at your favorite clothing shop: When you apply it to your total bill, it reduces what you owe. In this case, even if you have no tax liability, the government is "refunding" your credit back to you as a cash payment.
I know a fellow who RETURNED his first one! I thought he was nuts for doing so. If you DO return it, the gummint is not going to cancel-out your particular portion of the national debt, eh? .... Should the gov't reduce the top income level for eligibility? You'd hear the screaming from Hell to Breakfast. I'd rather see some "richer" folks get checks along with those who "really need them," than to force "poorer" people to have to jump through flaming hoops to get theirs. Using tax return info seems like a simple and easy and pretty reliable way to go--- unless you're Donald the tRumpster.
One can donate the stimulus check to local food banks that can benefit many families who are currently out of work. These food banks rely soley on the local grocery stores and individuals.
It is not much but we donated our first stimulus checks. Will do this again this time.
My BIL called this morning and said he just received his 2nd stimulus but it was not direct deposit or a check. It was a debit type card. He doesn't know why but was calling around warning people that if they receive the same, don't throw it away. Ours was direct deposit as was our first.
There we go, the government is doing it differently this time.
It announced that in lieu of checks some people would be getting debit cards. Same as last time. Who? Why? Who knows? The IRS writes:
For those who don’t receive a direct deposit by early January, they should watch their mail for either a paper check or a debit card. To speed delivery of the payments to reach as many people as soon as possible, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, part of the Treasury Department, will be sending a limited number of payments out by debit card. Please note that the form of payment for the second mailed EIP may be different than for the first mailed EIP. Some people who received a paper check last time might receive a debit card this time, and some people who received a debit card last time may receive a paper check.
Last year I received direct deposit. I gave the same bank account on my 2018 and 2019 returns, but this year I'm getting something in the mail. I don't know what yet (check or card). All I know is that it was supposedly mailed on the 6th and it hasn't arrived yet.
There's something else the government is doing differently - it slowed down the USPS. ("The Postal Service delivered only 70.6 percent of first-class mail items on time during the week of Dec. 12, the most recent data available, compared with better than 95 percent during the same period last year." WaPo Jan, 5)
THIS U.S. GOVERNMENT SYSTEM IS FOR AUTHORIZED USE ONLY!
Use of this system constitutes consent to monitoring, interception, recording, reading, copying or capturing by authorized personnel of all activities. There is no right to privacy in this system. Unauthorized use of this system is prohibited and subject to criminal and civil penalties, including all penalties applicable to willful unauthorized access (UNAX) or inspection of taxpayer records (under 18 U.S.C. 1030 and 26 U.S.C. 7213A and 26 U.S.C. 7431).
The "Access Denied" message is curious. The rest of the message is standard. It worked fine for me, once I asserted that I was an authorized user (by clicking "okay").
I have no idea why the IRS (or at least its website) is wary of you.
yeah, just click okay --- standard UI behavior for some mindsets ...
We got our $1200 paper checks in the mail yesterday. Going to think about which worthy orgs to pass some of this along to, as well as setaside for granddaughter tk, hopefully in 6w, born under a woman VP.
Like some other boomers, if I stay afloat, and assuming grandchildren live past age 100, I who got to know fairly well a famous grandfather born 1885 will have been good acquaintances with individual lives spanning almost a quarter-millennium. Cool. (Was I geezing?)
We are unable to provide the status of your payment right now because:
We don't have enough information yet (we're working on this), or You're not eligible for a payment.
For more information about why you're receiving this message, see our Frequently Asked Questions.
It may be that our income level is too high for this situation. We didn't receive a payment last time either. Actually, we weren't either expecting or desiring one- just curious, that's all. If we had received anything, it would have gone to charity, for sure.
@Old_Joe "We don't have enough information yet (we're working on this), or You're not eligible for a payment. ...Or, we're out to lunch. Or, we don't have a clue. We just show up here and pretend to work. Or, we're working on a soufle. Back in 30 minutes... Or Mars is going to bump into Neptune and we're all doomed, anyway. Or, we have only 10 fingers. We can't count beyond that.
I really REALLY dislike those stoopid messages, like the one you got. They try to sound reasonable, and actually sound as if imbeciles are running things. Or else they think WE are imbeciles.
@Crash- Yes, exactly. When we didn't get a payment on the first round we speculated that perhaps our income was above the cutoff, but we didn't know for certain. Perhaps a check "got lost in the mail"? So this time I tried to get a definitive read on the whole thing. Good luck on that.
Comments
You can't file your 2020 tax return before January 27th, which is why I think the IRS is saying that it will get all payments sent by mid January. Your tax software will have to be updated because it doesn't currently include code or worksheets to handle the second payment.
Stay Safe, Derf
The text itself reads: "there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by subtitle A [income tax] for the first taxable year beginning in 2020" and goes on to say $600/eligible individual and $600/qualifying child.
To give credit where it is due, I got the link last week from JoeTaxpayer in misc.taxes.moderated. He asked about the timing. There was one response, from Alan. It was similar to what I posted above. Following Reagan's advice (trust but verify) I looked at the legislation myself.
https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/will-we-have-to-pay-back-stimulus-check-2020-4 https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions-for-individuals
If it's a gift, it's a per capita gift that nearly everyone (84%) gets. It's a gift like Medicare Part B, where most (92%) participants pay only 1/4 of the true cost and they are gifted the other 3/4 out of general tax revenue (see Medicare Financial Status: In Brief, p. 5, pdf p. 7).
So many people received the first (and will receive this one AND Biden’s likely follow-on) that absolutely do not need it.
It is not much but we donated our first stimulus checks. Will do this again this time.
By the way, our professor snowball also donated his stimulus check.
How strange.
It announced that in lieu of checks some people would be getting debit cards. Same as last time. Who? Why? Who knows? The IRS writes: Last year I received direct deposit. I gave the same bank account on my 2018 and 2019 returns, but this year I'm getting something in the mail. I don't know what yet (check or card). All I know is that it was supposedly mailed on the 6th and it hasn't arrived yet.
There's something else the government is doing differently - it slowed down the USPS.
("The Postal Service delivered only 70.6 percent of first-class mail items on time during the week of Dec. 12, the most recent data available, compared with better than 95 percent during the same period last year." WaPo Jan, 5)
To check the status of your Economic Impact Payment (EIP), click on the blue Get My Payment button near the top of this page:
https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment
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You don't have permission to access "http://sa.www4.irs.gov/irfof-wmsp/login" on this server.
Reference #18.5d96df17.1610490567.27eaa84
THIS U.S. GOVERNMENT SYSTEM IS FOR AUTHORIZED USE ONLY!
Use of this system constitutes consent to monitoring, interception, recording, reading, copying or capturing by authorized personnel of all activities. There is no right to privacy in this system. Unauthorized use of this system is prohibited and subject to criminal and civil penalties, including all penalties applicable to willful unauthorized access (UNAX) or inspection of taxpayer records (under 18 U.S.C. 1030 and 26 U.S.C. 7213A and 26 U.S.C. 7431).
I have no idea why the IRS (or at least its website) is wary of you.
We got our $1200 paper checks in the mail yesterday. Going to think about which worthy orgs to pass some of this along to, as well as setaside for granddaughter tk, hopefully in 6w, born under a woman VP.
Like some other boomers, if I stay afloat, and assuming grandchildren live past age 100, I who got to know fairly well a famous grandfather born 1885 will have been good acquaintances with individual lives spanning almost a quarter-millennium. Cool. (Was I geezing?)
Payment Status - Not Available
We are unable to provide the status of your payment right now because:
We don't have enough information yet (we're working on this), or
You're not eligible for a payment.
For more information about why you're receiving this message, see our Frequently Asked Questions.
It may be that our income level is too high for this situation. We didn't receive a payment last time either. Actually, we weren't either expecting or desiring one- just curious, that's all. If we had received anything, it would have gone to charity, for sure.
That would be a good problem to have !!
Stay Safe, Derf
You're not eligible for a payment.
...Or, we're out to lunch. Or, we don't have a clue. We just show up here and pretend to work. Or, we're working on a soufle. Back in 30 minutes... Or Mars is going to bump into Neptune and we're all doomed, anyway. Or, we have only 10 fingers. We can't count beyond that.
I really REALLY dislike those stoopid messages, like the one you got. They try to sound reasonable, and actually sound as if imbeciles are running things. Or else they think WE are imbeciles.