How much money could you get from Uncle Sam for coronavirus relief? Find out with our calculator
Congress and the White House have wrangled for days over the details of a $2 trillion package of legislation to come to the rescue of an economy ravaged into recession by the global coronavirus pandemic and the stay-at-home measures urged by medical experts to prevent the spread of the contagion.
On Friday, the House passed the unparalled economic rescue package steering aid to businesses, workers and health care systems engulfed by the coronavirus pandemic. The Senate passed the measure on Wednesday night. President Trump signed the stimulus package into law Friday evening.
Along with expansion and extension of unemployment benefits for people whose jobs have been sidelined by business closures, sick leave and family medical leave for workers, and food aid, a key component of the bill is a program of direct payments to many Americans of up to $1,200 for adults who make up to $75,000 per year or $2,400 for married couples who make up to $150,000 annually. A family would also receive $500 per child.
Under the relief program, the payments would be reduced for households over those income thresholds, and be eliminated completely for single-parent households with annual incomes over $99,000 or married-couple households who made more than $198,000 a year.
Income determinations would likely be based on a person’s 2018 income tax return unless they’ve already filed for the 2019 tax year.
And good news for people whose income is derived from Social Security: According to McClatchy’s David Lightman, as long as you qualify under the income rules, you are eligible for a payment. If you paid no taxes the previous two years, you’ll be in line for payments as long you have an SSA-1099, according to the office of Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, and an NBC News analysis.
Use our interactive search tool below to see how much you or your household may receive.
The Associated Press and McClatchy contributed to this report
This story was originally published March 25, 2020 at 8:30 PM with the headline "How much money could you get from Uncle Sam for coronavirus relief? Find out with our calculator."
