GREENSBORO, N.C. — It's the question a lot of you are asking; will there be a fourth round of stimulus payments?
There's a lot of rumblings out there, including three Senators who spearheaded a letter to President Biden, Bernie Sanders from Vermont, Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts, and Ron Wyden from Oregon. Their letter outlined a need for recurring checks to be sent out.
The White House Press Secretary was just asked about the fourth round of stimulus payments.
“We will see what members of Congress will propose, but those are not free,” said Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
Did you catch that? She said those are not free. What did she mean by that?
Well, stimulus payments #1 of $1,200 and #2 of $600 and two were advanced payments on a tax credit you were going to get anyway when you filed your 2020 taxes. They were not taxable income.
Stimulus payment #3 of $1,400 is also an advance on a tax credit, but for your 2021 taxes, which you file next year. Again, this is not taxable income.
But stimulus #4 would come out of somewhere, but it doesn't appear there is a tax credit to pull from. So, how is it funded, and would there be a tax on it? All questions that can’t be answered yet and who knows if it would be taxed.
IF YOU DIDN'T GET STIMULUS #1 OR #2
What if you didn't get Stimulus #1 or #2? Maybe you didn't get all the money you think you're eligible to get. What do you do?
The short answer is, file your taxes. Even if you don't normally file taxes, file them to claim the stimulus money.
“In some cases, there may be people who didn't get one or both stimulus payments, but by filing the 2020 tax return and making sure line 30 is completed, they may be able to get a refundable credit,” said Kevin Robinson of Robinson Tax & Accounting Services.
The thought of doing taxes when you haven't done taxes in a while may seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be.
The 1040-SR, it’s the seniors' tax form, is just three pages. On line 30 is the Recovery Rebate Credit, which is your stimulus payment. There is a worksheet to help you figure out what you need to put down on line 30.
To help you, the IRS has several FREE online filing programs for you to use. The folks at the Greensboro Public Library say the programs walk you through doing your taxes.