Individuals earning less than $75,000 a year and married couples earning less than $150,000 will receive $1,400 per person, including children. That will get money to about 90% of households.
The U.S. Senate was poised to vote late Friday or Saturday on a $1.9 trillion relief bill provides extended unemployment benefits to Americans out of work, billions in funding to bolster vaccine distribution, expands health care access of the unemployed and incentivizes some states that never expanded Medicaid to finally take that step. This bill is massive. It’s costly, and it’s likely the last installment in a series of stimulus packages that bolstered the American economy through the worst pandemic in a century. The Senate bill amends the House bill on the $1,400-per-person stimulus payments to tighten eligibility. Disclaimer: This calculator is based on the latest version of the COVID-relief package and is subject to change. All figures provided are estimates, and any inputs are not stored. Use details from your 2019 or, if you have already filed it, your 2020 tax return. Calculate Individuals earning less than $75,000 a year and married couples earning less than $150,000 will receive $1,400 per person, including children. That will get money to about 90% of households. The checks will phase out faster than previous rounds, completely cutting off individuals who earn more than $80,000 a year and married couples earning more than $160,000 — regardless of how many children they have. The bill passed by the House set the income caps at $200,000 for couples and $100,000 for individuals. The Senate change leaves out about 7 million families, according to an estimate from the Penn Wharton Budget Model. Unlike the previous two rounds, adult dependents — including college students — are expected to be eligible for the payments. In addition to the direct payments for most Americans, here are other elements of the nearly $2 trillion relief package: Unemployment assistance The Senate and House bills call for extending two key pandemic unemployment programs through August 29. They would also increase the federal weekly boost to $400, from the current $300, and continue it for the same time period. Some senators were looking to reduce the federal enhancement to $300 a week and to add another month onto the pandemic jobless programs. But those efforts were unsuccessful. Both bills would lengthen the duration of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program to up to 74 weeks, from 50 weeks, and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program to 48 weeks, from 24 weeks. The former provides benefits to freelancers, gig workers, independent contractors and certain people affected by the pandemic, while the latter increases the duration of payments for those in the traditional state unemployment system. The President’s plan had called for continuing the benefits through the end of September. Out-of-work Americans will start running out of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits in mid-March, when provisions in December’s $900 billion relief package begin phasing out. The $300 enhancement also ends in mid-March. Minimum wage The Senate bill will not include an increase in the federal minimum wage, which House Democrats proposed raising to $15 an hour. The parliamentarian ruled in late February that increasing the hourly threshold does not meet a strict set of guidelines needed to move forward in the reconciliation process, which would allow Senate Democrats to pass the relief bill with a simple majority and no Republican votes. The House legislation would increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 in stages. It would also guarantee that tipped workers, youth workers and workers with disabilities are paid the full federal minimum wage. Aid to states and municipalities The Senate and House differ on how much aid they would provide to counties and cities, but both chambers contain the same infusion of funding for states, tribes and territories. The bills would provide states and the District of Columbia with $195.
