Stimulus check update – Some Americans may have to GIVE BACK their $1,400 payment

NOT everyone qualifies for the third stimulus check they were sent – and some Americans may have to send back some of their payment, the IRS has warned.

The income cutoff to receive a third stimulus check is $80,000 for an individual taxpayer, $120,000 for a head of household and $160,000 for a married couple that files jointly.

If you make more than that amount and still got a payment, the IRS will likely expect you to return all or some of it. 

Ineligible people include non-resident aliens, those who are not US citizens or lawful permanent residents. 

A resident alien – a green card holder or a person who passed the substantial presence test – can receive a stimulus payment if they have a valid Social Security number and are not claimed as a dependent on someone’s tax return.

Those who died before January 1, 2021, are ineligible to receive stimulus money, according to a report by Kiplinger. But if the person who died is a married member of the US military, their living spouse can receive the payment.

Those who filed a joint tax return in 2020 as a married couple but whose spouse died afterward will be unable to cash out the check that was sent to them and their dead spouse. 

In this case, they must return the payment to the IRS and include a letter asking that the third stimulus payment be reissued in the name of the living spouse only, according to Kiplinger.

To send back stimulus money that you received in the form of a paper check in the mail, write “Void” on the back of the check, add a summary explaining the reason for returning it, and mail it back to the right IRS.

If you already cashed the money or received it through a direct deposit to your bank account, then send a personal check or a money transfer to the right IRS location. 

The check or money transfer should be payable to the “US Treasury.” 

On the check, write “Third EIP” (Economic Impact Payment, also referred to as stimulus check) and include your taxpayer identification number and an explanation for sending back the money.

Some people will want to give back the payments because they believe they don’t need the money for an array of reasons such as not adding to the federal deficit.  

In this case, they need to follow a different process to send back the money to the IRS. 

If you fall within this group and received the payment in form of a debit card, you will need to send the card with an explanation clarifying that you don’t want the money or a payment reissued to Money Network Cardholder Services, 2900 Westside Parkway, Alpharetta, Georgia, 30004.

If you are eligible to keep the payment and paid all your debts and bills, you could trade up your check and turn your $1,400 stimulus payment into $100,000 in the long run.

You could now invest your stimulus in Vanguard Exchange-Traded Fund (ETFs) to establish long-term wealth.

On Tuesday, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig confirmed that parents will be able to receive up to $3,600 as an annual benefit per child for the 2021 tax year starting in July.

The payments are part of the expanded child tax credit that was added to the American $1.9trillion Rescue Plan which was signed into law in March.

People began receiving their stimulus checks after President Joe Biden signed the Covid-19 relief bill into law on March 11.

Social Security Income (SSI) recipients began to receive their third stimulus checks earlier this month. Around four million checks were scheduled to be sent out with a total value exceeding 10billion.

The checks are set to be sent out to around 30million Social Security beneficiaries who are not required to file taxes.