If you live in Minnesota and a letter with a Montana return address shows up in your U.S. Postal Service box, open it. It could be your special, one-time income tax rebate for the 2021 tax year 2021, which the Minnesota Department of Revenue started distributing in mid-August. The amount could be as much as $1,300 for some Minnesota taxpayers. Paper check confusion: Around 2.1 million North Star State residents are eligible for the tax rebate. Most are getting the money as a direct deposit. However, around 950,000 rebate recipients will get their money as a paper check. The checks... Read more →
Stimulus plan
Millions of people got special state payments in 2022 to help them cover costs that accrued during the pandemic. Some are getting the state relief in 2023, too, prompting the IRS to clarify the federal tax status of this extra cash. (Unsplash+ in collaboration with Kateryna Hliznitsova) COVID-19 did a number on the U.S. economy, prompting federal and state lawmakers to offer a variety of relief programs. At the state level the most notable government help came via stimulus payments. Those payments helped the recipients cover living expenses. They also raised tax issues, specifically whether federal taxes would be due... Read more →
Image via California Franchise Tax Board Individuals who got special tax or inflation relief payments from their states last year won't have to worry about handing over a portion to the U.S. Treasury. The Internal Revenue Service announced late Friday, Feb. 10, afternoon, that, "in the interest of sound tax administration and other factors," recipients of the payments won't have to report the amounts on their 2022 tax returns that are now being filed. Disaster and general welfare exemptions: The IRS said that it will not challenge the taxability of payments related to general welfare and disaster relief. This means... Read more →
Are you a retiree constantly checking your bank account for your third COVID-19 economic impact payment? The IRS says you should get it next week. The Internal Revenue Service has some good news for the around 30 million Social Security recipients anxiously awaiting the latest COVID relief money You should get your $1,400 economic impact payment, dubbed EIP3, next week. The IRS' precise projection is that most of the third relief amounts, dubbed EIP3, will be sent electronically and show up in the recipients' accounts on April 7. Perpetual payment challenge: Getting coronavirus relief amounts to older individuals has been... Read more →
You don't have to literally settle in next to your mail box, but do be on the lookout for your coronavirus economic relief payment. The IRS is sending out the next batch of this third round and many of them will be checks or debit cards delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. Attention taxpayers: More economic impact payments are on the way. That's the promise in an announcement today from the Internal Revenue Service. But the news is not all good. Many of this next batch of payments will be as paper checks or prepaid debit cards that eventually will... Read more →
DonkeyHotey via Flickr Around 90 million COVID-19 economic impact payments have been distributed in less than a week since the bill authorizing them was enacted. Those payments total more than $242 billion, according to the Internal Revenue Service. In announcing the relief payment data today, the IRS also noted that more payments per the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) will be going out in the coming weeks. All funds available today: Most of this first batch of payments, dubbed EIP3 since they are the third such pandemic financial relief effort, were sent by direct deposit. While some of these deposits... Read more →
U.S. Treasury check image courtesy frankieleon via Flickr Some people have already received the third economic impact payment (EIP), which is $1,400 per person, as authorized under the just enacted American Rescue Plan. Of course, we're already hearing some grumbling. That's to be expected any time the Internal Revenue Service, which once again is tasked with distributing the relief money, is involved. But at least initially the IRS seems to have the system down after having done this two previous times. So now we wait. Hopefully we don't have to wait too long. And while we wait, today's Saturday Shout... Read more →
President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 recovery proposal, dubbed the American Rescue Plan, includes among other things a third economic impact payment (EIP). This next payment is $1,400 for individuals earning less than $75,000 or $150,000 for a married couple filing a joint return. That would bring the $600 second EIP to the much-touted $2,000 total. And as with the other two payments, the Internal Revenue Service again will be in charge of getting the money out to eligible recipients. I know. Some of y'all are freaking out. You had issues getting your first EIP authorized by the Coronavirus Aid,... Read more →
Soon after Joseph R. Biden trades in his former Vice President honorific for President on Jan. 20, the now-Democratic led Congress will take up the 46th Commander in Chief's COVID-19 relief plan. Millions of Americans, even those who didn't vote for Biden and VP-Elect Kamala Harris, are hoping it passes soon. The key appeal of the plan is more coronavirus relief money. Last year, some House and Senate Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in calling for the second economic relief payment of $2,000 per person. That was trimmed to $600 per person in the final bill that became law on... Read more →
When the Internal Revenue Service issued the first round of COVID-19 economic relief payments as debit cards last year, a lot of them ended up in trash cans. Many folks thought the mailing was just another slick marketing attempt to get them to apply for an added credit card. They tossed those envelopes and the valuable relief cards they contained in the trash. So that this next batch of approximately 8 million COVID relief debit cards now hitting (or at least heading to) mail boxes isn't mistaken for junk mail, the IRS has made changes to the envelope. Clear envelope... Read more →
Photo: Pixabay via Pexels The good news, at least from the reports I'm getting from my family, friends, folks in the tax community and social media, is that people are getting their second COVID-19 economic impact payments (EIPs). This latest round of payments officially is a tax credit known as the Recovery Rebate. It was part of the end-of-year federal funding bill, aka the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA). The Internal Revenue Service started directly depositing the money, based on information it has in its system, on Dec. 29, two days after the legislation was signed into law. Now the... Read more →
Have you received your $600 COVID-19 economic impact payment (EIP)? If not, then you're probably doing the same thing as Purcival Fairweather. You're checking, double checking and rechecking yet again your bank account to see if the coronavirus cash is finally there. $600 check? More like check my account 600 times. — Purcival Fairweather 🍾 (@purcival) January 2, 2021 But your obsessive bank badgering won't have to go on very much longer. If your EIP doesn't arrive by Jan. 15 or shortly thereafter it's sent out as a debit card or paper U.S. Treasury check, then you're not getting it.... Read more →
Some taxpayers awoke today to $600 (or more!) in their bank accounts. The money is the maximum per-person amount authorized by Congress and signed into law on Dec. 27 as part of the second COVID-19 economic relief measure. The Internal Revenue Service, which once again is in charge of distributing the economic impact payments (EIPs), says the electronic delivery will continue into next week. Some account holders may see the direct deposit payments as pending or as provisional payments in their accounts before the official payment date of Jan. 4, 2021. Sorry, but you'll just have to wait for the... Read more →
UPDATE, Dec. 29, 2020, 4:20 p.m. CST: Good news for those who saw their unemployment benefits lapse by the delayed signing of the second COVID relief bill. The Department of Labor say they will get the full 11 weeks of benefits, although most will have to wait a few weeks for state agencies to reprogram the package's provisions into their computers. To reflect this decision, the original headline "Millions out of luck and money as federal unemployment assistance ends" was changed. UPDATE, Dec. 27, 2020, 7:34 p.m. CST: The presidential COVID bill holdout is over. Donald J. Trump tonight signed... Read more →
Among those who need to pay particular attention to this coronavirus money deadline are some college students, families who get government benefits and homeless individuals. If you didn't get a COVID-19 economic relief payment or didn't get all to which you were entitled, you can still apply for the financial help this year. But act soon. Really soon. The deadline to let the Internal Revenue Service know you're due some of the relief money is 3 p.m. this coming Saturday, Nov. 21. Note not only the date but also the time. That's 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, not your local... Read more →
It's no surprise that bad people take advantage of bad situations. That's why as we continue to cope with COVID-19, pandemic-related scams — tax and otherwise — proliferate. The latest coronavirus tax scam arrives via a text message. COVID-19 text scam warning: It was created by thieves who are trying to trick people into disclosing bank account information under the guise of receiving the $1,200 COVID-19 Economic Impact Payment (EIP), according to the Internal Revenue Service and its Security Summit partners. This scam's text message tells recipients: "You have received a direct deposit of $1,200 from COVID-19 TREAS FUND. Further... Read more →
While Congress is still, sort of, working on a second round of COVID-19 stimulus payments, the Internal Revenue Service is trying to get the first batch out to people who've yet to collect money for which they're eligible. For the most part, these are individuals who usually don't have to file a tax return. Since the IRS is using this tax filing information to distribute the economic impact payments (EIPs), these non-filers are out of luck. But they can get their data to the IRS by using the agency's online registration tool at the IRS.gov special Non-Filers: Enter Info Here... Read more →
Depending on your personal situation, your deadline to claim any or additional coronavirus stimulus money is Sept. 30 or Oct. 15. Miss the deadline, and you'll have to wait until next year for much-needed COVID-19 cash. Since it's still unclear if or when we might get another COVID-19 relief payment, it's even more important that every person who's eligible get all they can from the first stimulus payout. And to do that, a lot of folks need to officially touch base with the Internal Revenue Service. Soon. Like in a couple of days for some families. Wednesday, Sept. 30, is... Read more →
Are your spouse's debts are costing you? The IRS has a bit of good news for some husbands and wives. They'll be getting back the coronavirus payment portion they were shorted due to their spouses' unpaid child support. (Photo by Gustavo Fring) Congress and the White House may be struggling to reach a deal on additional COVID-19 economic relief payments, but the Internal Revenue Service has stepped up to get some of the original stimulus money to few more folks. The agency says that next month it will send catch-up Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) to about 50,000 individuals. These are... Read more →
Attention parents who rely on government program payments to help care for your families. If you missed out on the extra $500 per dependent child coronavirus economic impact payment (EIP), the Internal Revenue Service is giving you one last chance to get this supplemental money this year. The tax agency announced this afternoon that it is reopening registration for the added COVID-19 stimulus amounts. The IRS' online Non-Filers tool , which debuted back in mid-April, again will be available starting tomorrow, Saturday, Aug. 15. It will be open through Sept. 30 to allow affected individuals to enter their qualifying children's... Read more →