Government financial aid during pandemic

[geowrian 22,335]

1 hour ago, LBee1592 said:

So do you guys think that if a couple files married and jointly, one is a US citizen, one is a resident alien using an ITIN, they would still be eligible?

I have read somewhere that an ITIN could create a problem for both and possible neither one would get money. (Not even the US citizen spouse)

 

Does anyone know anything about this? 

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/03/26/perspectives/stimulus-checks-undocumented-taxpayers/index.html

 

So would a US citizen filing jointly with their spouse who only has an ITIN lose their right to the coronavirus relief check?

Just reading through that section of the actually passed bill now...

Yes, it does say you need a qualifying identification number. It only lists an SSN and ATIN as qualifying numbers.

There is an exception if one's spouse is a member of the armed forces.

 

...dang. That's a pretty big oversight. I can imagine they wanted to avoid eligibility of certain individuals who may not have been working legally. But there are better ways to address that if that was the goal.

On the plus side, since this is a refundable tax credit, once you get an SSN you will qualify and then can claim it on your taxes. The difference is it won't be an advance payment...you would get it when you file your 2020 taxes instead.

Edited March 26, 2020 by geowrian

[Orangesapples 1,954]

13 hours ago, Sarge2155 said:

They will add it on to your annual incomes that tax year so in essence you are paying it back. What IRS won't tell you is that if you owe Back child support or any BACK loans and your pay is garnished already it will come out of this stimulus check!!!! Imagine the heartache when you find out your ex got your stimulus check. It happened last time so I'm sure it will happen this time!!!

I mean, if you owe child support, you should have paid it... 

 

Trying to find sympathy for dead beat dads.... 

 

Operation failed. Sympathy reserved for the children they left behind. 

Edited March 26, 2020 by Orangesapples

[Sarge2155 4,565]

4 minutes ago, Orangesapples said:

I mean, if you owe child support, you should have paid it... 

Really!!!!!! I was speaking in general!!!!☹️

Edited March 26, 2020 by Sarge2155

[Orangesapples 1,954]

3 minutes ago, Sarge2155 said:

Really!!!!!! I was speaking in general!!!!☹️

So finally the children of deadbeat dads can get some money. Seems like a positive to me. 

[Steeleballz 7,550]

1 hour ago, Orangesapples said:

So finally the children of deadbeat dads can get some money. Seems like a positive to me. 

 

  Unfortunately $1200 bucks probably won't cover most of those debts.

 

  It looks like most other debts won't be eligible for them to deduct from the credit though. Child support is the only thing I see at the moment. They can't use it to reduce outstanding state/federal income tax or federal debt. Again, could be subject to change before it's passed.

Edited March 26, 2020 by Steeleballz

[Cndn 98]

8 hours ago, Orangesapples said:

So finally the children of deadbeat dads can get some money. Seems like a positive to me. 

Ha. My stepkids have a deadbeat mom. They exist too. Sometimes it’s the dads that are doing everything. 
 

Do we know how they plan on dispersing the funds? Electronically or check? I haven’t seen that info anywhere. 

[~Alessa~ 26]

Hey everyone. I am a green card holder (10 year one) and I have SSN and I filed taxes for the last 3 years jointly with my husband. I have an SSN card that is "restricted" - "valid for employment with DHS authorization" . I got that card when I still had my "employment authorization" and I never went to update my status with SSN office when I became a permanent resident. Never had any problems , green card and SSN that's all my employers needed. This year I suppose to get my citizenship so I thought to make a trip to SSN office after that and update my status with them as a citizen but with this virus situation I don't even know. 

Am I going to get that money if I just do nothing?  or do I need to update my resident status with SSN?

[Cndn 98]

18 minutes ago, ~Alessa~ said:

Hey everyone. I am a green card holder (10 year one) and I have SSN and I filed taxes for the last 3 years jointly with my husband. I have an SSN card that is "restricted" - "valid for employment with DHS authorization" . I got that card when I still had my "employment authorization" and I never went to update my status with SSN office when I became a permanent resident. Never had any problems , green card and SSN that's all my employers needed. This year I suppose to get my citizenship so I thought to make a trip to SSN office after that and update my status with them as a citizen but with this virus situation I don't even know. 

Am I going to get that money if I just do nothing?  or do I need to update my resident status with SSN?

You filed taxes so you’re good. 

[Steeleballz 7,550]

10 hours ago, Cndn said:

Ha. My stepkids have a deadbeat mom. They exist too. Sometimes it’s the dads that are doing everything. 
 

Do we know how they plan on dispersing the funds? Electronically or check? I haven’t seen that info anywhere. 

 

  It's electronically if your 2018 or 2019 filing requested direct deposit. It will be check if they don't have bank account information on file, or if you specified payment by check for your 2018 or 2019 refund. They also said if the bank account is closed or if the electronic deposit is denied for any other reason, it will be reissued as a check as soon as they get notification that the electronic deposit did not go through.

 

  Before we get the stimulus check, we will get an information letter telling us how we will receive it and when to contact them if we don't get it. They will probably also have an online method to check the status as well. If you don't get it by whatever time they specify, you can call to have the check reissued. Usually they have a deadline where they won't issue checks anymore and then you have to claim it as a credit on your 2020 return. 

 

[Cndn 98]

55 minutes ago, Steeleballz said:

 

  It's electronically if your 2018 or 2019 filing requested direct deposit. It will be check if they don't have bank account information on file, or if you specified payment by check for your 2018 or 2019 refund. They also said if the bank account is closed or if the electronic deposit is denied for any other reason, it will be reissued as a check as soon as they get notification that the electronic deposit did not go through.

 

  Before we get the stimulus check, we will get an information letter telling us how we will receive it and when to contact them if we don't get it. They will probably also have an online method to check the status as well. If you don't get it by whatever time they specify, you can call to have the check reissued. Usually they have a deadline where they won't issue checks anymore and then you have to claim it as a credit on your 2020 return. 

 

Awesome, thanks. We always owe and never get a refund, so I shouldn’t think they have our bank account info although that is the preferred method for us. I wonder if there’s some way to set that up now. I’ll have to see if any info on that is included in the letter. 

[Manuel94 72]

On 3/25/2020 at 9:06 AM, geowrian said:

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:

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.

It does not matter if you file as single or as married, you will get your check of $1,200 if you are a resident for tax purposes, and if you have a SSN. So if you have an ITIN instead and/or are a non-resident for tax purposes (you filed 1040-NR) then you will not receive the payment. How do you know if you’re a resident for tax purposes? You have a SSN, you did not file form 1040-NR in 2019 (or 2018 if you didn’t file taxes for 2019) AND you meet the Substancial Presence Test. To meet the test you must have lived in the country for 30 days this current year, and 183 days in the last 3 years (there is more details to this). SOME non-immigrants like F1 visa holders are not considered residents for tax purposes at any time during their first 5 years in the country, so start counting your days from the 5 year mark if you are or have been an F1 visa holder. For people under AOS, if you have a SSN (not ITIN) and if you meet the Substantial Presence Test at the time you filed your most recent taxes, the IRS will send you a check. If you did not meet the test when you filed the taxes, but are eligible now, you will still get the money even if not now you can claim it later on your future 2020 tax return. 

[Steeleballz 7,550]

18 minutes ago, Cndn said:

Awesome, thanks. We always owe and never get a refund, so I shouldn’t think they have our bank account info although that is the preferred method for us. I wonder if there’s some way to set that up now. I’ll have to see if any info on that is included in the letter. 

 

  They do have ways to update information without filing. You could probably just call and see if they are able to add direct deposit information. I'm not sure if changes made right now would make it through in time anyway though, because they are going to be giving the stimulus checks priority as soon as the bill is finalized.  

 

   https://www.irs.gov/filing/individual/update-my-information

[geowrian 22,335]

10 minutes ago, Manuel94 said:

It does not matter if you file as single or as married, you will get your check of $1,200 if you are a resident for tax purposes, and if you have a SSN.

The reference to filing jointly (not just married) is that you must have both been considered a resident alien for the entire tax year in order to do so.

The remark was in response to the OP who said "I filed my taxes for 2018 as married filing jointly with my USC spouse.".

 

To be a little more pedantic, one does not file as "single" or "married". They can file as Single if single and not eligible for HOH status. They can file MFS or MFJ (or HOH in limited circumstances) if legally married.

Filing jointly means that both 1) they are both RAs for the entire tax year, and 2) it's $2400 (+ any qualifying child factor and minus 5% for any AGI amount over $150k).

Edited March 27, 2020 by geowrian

[Manuel94 72]

18 minutes ago, geowrian said:

The reference to filing jointly (not just married) is that you must have both been considered a resident alien for the entire tax year in order to do so.

The remark was in response to the OP who said "I filed my taxes for 2018 as married filing jointly with my USC spouse.".

 

To be a little more pedantic, one does not file as "single" or "married". They can file as Single if single and not eligible for HOH status. They can file MFS or MFJ (or HOH in limited circumstances) if legally married.

Filing jointly means that both 1) they are both RAs for the entire tax year, and 2) it's $2400 (+ any qualifying child factor and minus 5% for any AGI amount over $150k).

Yes but that makes people think that if they filed as married filing separately (MFS) they are not eligible, which is not the case. There are many reasons why someone would file as MFS, for example to financially protect the spouse from collections of medical debt, or student loans. Regardless of how you filed your taxes (single, head of household, married filing jointly or separately) as long as you are a resident alien, you will receive the payment, the only difference is that if you file MFJ you will get it along with your spouse’s rather than separately.

 

[geowrian 22,335]

47 minutes ago, Manuel94 said:

Yes but that makes people think that if they filed as married filing separately (MFS) they are not eligible, which is not the case. There are many reasons why someone would file as MFS, for example to financially protect the spouse from collections of medical debt, or student loans. Regardless of how you filed your taxes (single, head of household, married filing jointly or separately) as long as you are a resident alien, you will receive the payment, the only difference is that if you file MFJ you will get it along with your spouse’s rather than separately.

I can't say I know what people will or won't think, but nothing regarding eligibility for MFS was stated. They would be reading into something that was not stated.

But yes, clarifying that the filing status is not the determining factor for eligibility makes sense.

Edited March 27, 2020 by geowrian