Government financial aid during pandemic

[Cndn 98]

I’m sure we’ve all heard about the stimulus deal. It’s my understanding that each adult is to receive $1200 and $500 per child. I’m the spouse of a USC with a pending AOS application. So not a green card holder yet until my interview (which is likely even further away now). Would I still be eligible to receive this payment? I filed my taxes for 2018 as married filing jointly with my USC spouse. 
 

Also, and this might be a silly question, would receipt of this financial aid be detrimental to my green card interview in terms of public charge consideration? 

[Dashinka 23,243]

Still too early to tell, but I don't think this would be considered public assistance.  I also heard there will be income cut-offs based on 2018 taxes filed, so it should apply to you, but who knows exactly what the fine print says.

[Crazy Cat 39,226]

There is no relief package yet.  Congress is still fighting over it, I believe.

[Crazy Cat 39,226]

I just heard that there is a deal now..........we'll see how they intend to get money in our hands.

[Dashinka 23,243]

1 hour ago, Lucky Cat said:

There is no relief package yet.  Congress is still fighting over it, I believe.

Technically correct, but it appears the Senate has an agreement which should be voted on today.  Nancy Pelosi has said she would support anything the Senate sends over, so we should see something soon.  As to the payments, I heard it will be based on an AGI of $75k for a single filer from the 2018 tax year, not sure what the cut-off is for couples filing jointly.

[Crazy Cat 39,226]

4 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Technically correct, but it appears the Senate has an agreement which should be voted on today.  Nancy Pelosi has said she would support anything the Senate sends over, so we should see something soon.  As to the payments, I heard it will be based on an AGI of $75k for a single filer from the 2018 tax year, not sure what the cut-off is for couples filing jointly.

I think I read that the earlier proposal max limit was $150,000 for couples......then decreased after that.

[Prizm123 1,084]

it is based on 2019 if already filed, 2018 if not, so it was to our advantage to have already filed because now my wife is on it

[geowrian 22,335]

The Senate reached an agreement early this morning (around 1 AM EDT IIRC?). This has single and married cutoffs at $75k and $150k, with it phasing out at $5 for every $100 over those thresholds. Each eligible adult would get $1200, and each eligible child $500.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/the-likely-dollar1200-coronavirus-checks-explained/ar-BB11AsIW?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=U452DHP

 

The wording of the bill's text has not been updated officially yet, but here's what it said regarding eligibility:

Quote

(3) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible individual’ means any individual other than—

“(A) any nonresident alien individual,

“(B) any individual with respect to whom a deduction under section 151 is allowable to another taxpayer for a taxable year beginning in the calendar year in which the individual’s taxable year begins, and

“(C) an estate or trust.

So if you filed jointly, you must have been considered a resident alien for tax purposes, and therefore A does not apply. I'm just pointing that out as some people may incorrectly look at that in an immigration context, not tax context.

 

No public charge issue. These are not tax credits. They are also one-time and not means-tested, so no issue there. Immigration status is not a consideration for eligibility under the current text.

 

Nothing is final yet, but all signs right now are that this will pass through the chambers and be signed.

 

I kinda feel bad for all the people who (incorrectly) file as Single because their spouse is abroad, and all the CPAs who advised them to do so may be in for a bunch of upset clients. Or people who filed MFS since they didn't get an ITIN for their foreign spouse.

[mkayyy 14]

2 hours ago, Prizm123 said:

it is based on 2019 if already filed, 2018 if not, so it was to our advantage to have already filed because now my wife is on it

Do you have a source for this?  We just filed TY 2019 - first time filing MFJ.  TY 2018 were filed separately.  

 

2 hours ago, geowrian said:

The wording of the bill's text has not been updated officially yet, but here's what it said regarding eligibility:

So if you filed jointly, you must have been considered a resident alien for tax purposes, and therefore A does not apply. I'm just pointing that out as some people may incorrectly look at that in an immigration context, not tax context.

This is good to know as I had interpreted the original text in an immigration context.  I contacted out to our senators and US representative late last week to include my taxpaying nonimmigrant alien worker husband while our FB AOS is pending.  

[Prizm123 1,084]

10 minutes ago, mkayyy said:

Do you have a source for this?  We just filed TY 2019 - first time filing MFJ.  TY 2018 were filed separately.  

 

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/25/politics/senate-deal-stimulus-checks-coronavirus/index.html

 

Qualifying income levels will be based on 2019 federal tax returns, if already filed, and otherwise on 2018 returns. (Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin earlier this month delayed the filing deadline until July 15.)

[Steeleballz 7,550]

49 minutes ago, Prizm123 said:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/25/politics/senate-deal-stimulus-checks-coronavirus/index.html

 

Qualifying income levels will be based on 2019 federal tax returns, if already filed, and otherwise on 2018 returns. (Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin earlier this month delayed the filing deadline until July 15.)

 

   I read this on a .gov site too. I can't find it right now though, unfortunately, but it said they will use the most up to date tax information they have available at the time. I'm assuming that means they would probably have to have the 2019 return processed by that point, but people still may want to file now if the 2019 returns works out better than the 2018 one, and hope they complete it by the time they issue the stimulus check.

 

  There were several questions from people who were concerned because they had divorced or got married or moved since filing the 2018 return.

[Prizm123 1,084]

it doesnt look like they are gonna be able to send them until May due to the logistics of it, so if people have not filed a return yet, i would advise them to do so, I already made sure my mom did

[arken 4,197]

Yeah, what would happen if a couple who filed jointly in 2018 are divorced in 2019 and are planning to file their individual tax returns late this year.

One lump sump would likely be deposited in the bank account or be mailed to the address specified in 2018 tax return. The other ex. spouse would be like “whaaaat”.

 

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by arken

[Quarknase 1,072]

22 minutes ago, arken said:

Yeah, what would happen if a couple who filed jointly in 2018 are divorced in 2019 and are planning to file their individual tax returns late this year.

One lump sump would likely be deposited in the bank account or be mailed to the address specified in 2018 tax return. The other ex. spouse would be like “whaaaat”.

 

 

They can't possible use the ADDRESS on a tax return from 2018 to mail the checks. That would end up in a huge chaos. How many people have moved since?

[Cndn 98]

3 minutes ago, Quarknase said:

They can't possible use the ADDRESS on a tax return from 2018 to mail the checks. That would end up in a huge chaos. How many people have moved since?

Good point. How are they doing to disperse these funds? We always owe at tax time so getting money from them will be a first haha. I pay manually in our IRS account.