The Senate stimulus bill: What’s in it for you

The coronavirus relief bill that unanimously passed the Senate on March 26 checks in at 880 pages and more than $2 trillion in expenditures. The bill — which will require the House’s approval and President Donald Trump’s signature before it becomes law — addresses everything from support for the airline industry to support for stressed hospitals.

But the sections of the bill that are of most interest to ordinary Americans are those that involve direct payments from the government. These payments are designed to keep the economy moving and prevent households from falling into an economic chasm. They include a mix of checks, enhanced unemployment insurance payments, and small business loans designed to keep companies from shedding workers.

Here, we’ll take a look at those portions of the bill.

Unless you earn more than the income cap, you should be getting a check.

The federal government will be cutting checks for $1,200 per adult and $500 per child under age 17 as long as you don’t have income exceeding $75,000 per individual or $150,000 per couple. So a family of four would get $3,400. 

Above those income cutoffs, you’ll still get a check, but it will phase out by $5 for every $100 in additional income. The cost of this provision to the government is estimated to be $290 billion.

For households that have filed tax returns for 2019 — the ones originally due this coming April 15, but now pushed back to July 15 due to coronavirus — the IRS will calculate your adjusted gross income based on what you reported in 2019. If you haven’t filed a return yet, it will calculate it based on the return you filed for 2018.

For taxpayers in either of these categories, the IRS will deposit your money directly in whatever account you used for previous refunds. If you haven’t used direct deposit, it will send it to your last recorded address. (If your address has changed, you will need to tell the IRS.)

You will get a check, though the process may be a bit more complicated. The IRS may use addresses obtained from other federal agencies, such as the Social Security Administration, to find you. 

It’s possible that if you earned too little to file a return and don’t receive any federal benefits — but you would otherwise qualify for a check — then you may have to file paperwork to the IRS. Those details remain to be worked out.

Nothing can happen until the bill is signed by the president. From there, it could take days to a few weeks for the easiest payments to be made — those for taxpayers who filed returns and who have electronic deposit accounts on file.

If you’re in one of the categories of people who require more work to determine income figures and addresses, it will take longer. It’s too soon to say how long.

No.

Experts believe that you won’t.

The thing to do if you’re laid off is to file with your state for unemployment. That remains a crucial part of getting benefits from the Senate bill, which has allocated $260 billion for this purpose.

The federal government will add to your state-based unemployment payment by $600 a week, or the equivalent of more than $30,000 a year. Combined with the state payment, that’s a significant income replacement, though the current bill only provides this for four months. That time limit could be revisited in a future bill. 

The bill also incentivizes states to waive waiting periods for receiving benefits, and provides funds for states to lengthen the time limits for receiving their unemployment benefits by 13 weeks.

If you were already receiving unemployment payments prior to March, you may be out of luck for receiving the enhanced benefits enacted under this bill. That will remain a question for states.

The bill seeks to broaden the definition of "unemployment" to include furloughed workers, so states should begin to count furloughed workers as being unemployed.

In a landmark move, the Senate bill recognizes that gig workers — from freelancers to Uber drivers — need economic assistance in times like these. So they will qualify for the enhanced unemployment provisions in the new bill. The details about how states will determine the amount of assistance remain to be resolved.

No. Basically, the government is implementing a tax cut for 2020 and giving you an advance on what you would have saved. 

In most cases, no. Most of the time, the $1,200 checks and the unemployment insurance will not become a new financial liability for you down the road. The only scenario experts say is possible is that if someone is lucky enough to have a big boost in income in 2020, they may face a liability on some of what they received from the government.

The bill steers $377 billion to the small business sector, a combination of loans, grants, and other assistance.

If you’re a small business, you can receive what amounts to grants — bridge loans that will be forgiven as long as the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, and utilities.

The loans will be made by banks but guaranteed by the federal government. Small businesses usually take out loans to build facilities and infrastructure, so this is an unusual type of loan. Businesses that can adapt to the new conditions, such as restaurants doing takeout orders or retailers selling goods online, can continue those portions of their business to continue generating revenue.

Federally backed mortgage loans can be paused for two to six months for people suffering an economic reversal, without fees, penalties or added interest.

Student loan borrowers won’t be penalized for not paying down their loans, through Sept. 30.