Anyone get their stimulus Money?

[Shoeless]

We got ours late last night/early this morning, and put it into savings. 

I kind of want to buy something frivolous now, but I have no idea what. 

[historically accurate]

1 minute ago, kand said:

How was it listed on people‘s automatic deposit? We got something, but we can’t tell if it’s our regular refund, or stimulus check.

I really don’t think we should have gotten one. My dh didn’t lose his job (and I don’t have one) so we’re trying to figure out the best place(s) to donate right now to those that did. Anyone have good ideas for that? So far I’ve seen one local fund for restaurant workers who lost their jobs, and we will do some to that, and then of course local food banks really need donations right now. I wish there was a more organized website where people who need help could be matched with donations (basically like the restaurant worker one, but for any kind of worker). 

Mine says IRS Treas on our ACH deposit.

[rjand6more]

2 hours ago, Scarlett said:

Does anyone know how to get your banking info to IRS if you are self employed?

 

Not sure what you mean by self employed?  Like always owing and never getting a refund?  Then the IRS doesn't have bank info?

That's our situation.  The IRS launched a tool for filers who need to change bank info or address or give bank info.  It started today and there are issues. I was not able to do anything, then I got locked out because I tried about 5 times.

https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payments

[katilac]

9 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

He filed his taxes and I thought he wouldn't have to pay tax since he was so lowly paid and there was an Earned Income Credit.  Turns out that he was too responsible and too young to get the credit-- he was 23 (and not our dependent) but he also hadn't irresponsibly made any babies.

Think about your posts for a sec, though. You think it's unfair that your ds didn't get the Earned Income Credit because he didn't have kids, but you also think it's unfair that you didn't get stimulus money for your own kids. Just as more stimulus money would help you support your kids, the Earned Income Credit helps other people support their kids. Also, people who are 23 can responsibly make babies, too, lol. 

8 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

Not if they are your dependents and the IRS says that if you are supporting them for over 50%, you are required to list them as dependents.  Otherwise we wouldn't have done that.

Remember, you are getting the tax benefits for claiming them. I mean, yeah, we would all trade that for a full stimulus check for them if given the chance, lol, but they are our dependents. 

8 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

THIS.  You can't believe how irritated and angry I am that not only won't we get the stimulus, but we didn't get to claim college expenses for dd2, claim student loan expenses for dd1 and ds even though we paid them and were co-signers.  Our taxable income would have let us get a small amount of stimulus.  But not our adjusted.  And it super riles me up that we pay a much higher percentage of our income in charitable donations than most of those people way higher incomes than we.  It isn't that I think we shouldn't be paying income taxes but the reality is that people in our income bracket get ripped off. We are the people who are expected to pay full price for our kid's college expenses but we are also the people who do not have enough money and our getting our income in wages so there is absolutely no way we can hide our assetts.  We cannot do (and wouldn;t do) what my dd1's inlaws do which is charging everything as a business expense.  

According to eh calculator I linked below, if a married couple gets zero stimulus money, their AGI is $198,000 or above. I would happily trade our stimulus checks for an AGI of $198,000!! We make hella less than that and still pay all of our kids' college expenses (minus merit scholarships that are open to anyone, even if they make a million dollars a year). 

Why does it rile you that you make more charitable donations that many people with higher incomes? Donations are a choice, give as much or as little as you want. 

5 hours ago, lovinmyboys said:

Yes. And I was bummed because we didn’t get the whole thing like I was expecting. We don’t make close to $150,000 so I didn’t do any calculations. Turns out the move dh’s employer paid for last year did in fact put us over the max. Kind of a bummer and I didn’t realize moves were so expensive! Dh still has his job, so we will be fine, but despite not paying for our move, we did spend quite a bit extra last year on moving related expenses and I was hoping to replace some of that savings.

It costs an average of ten thousand dollars to move a family cross-country. Even allowing for generous overage on that, if you don't make close to $150,000 then his employer paid for more than just moving expenses - maybe expenses for selling the old house, closing costs on the new one, that type of thing. It's a bummer if you forgot about it and expected a full stimulus check, but all of those things, including the move itself, have actual cash value and increase your adjusted gross income (just as things like retirement savings can reduce it). You might want to make sure that you deducted all eligible moving expenses that you guys paid for yourself, plus all the other things, because you could file an amended return. 

2 hours ago, MissLemon said:

I kind of want to buy something frivolous now, but I have no idea what. 

New hobby supplies to amuse yourself in quarantine? A subscription to MasterClass to learn all the things? 

I'm going to set up a poll for everyone whose income is too high to get the stimulus check, with one question: what's your job title, lol? 

Edited to add link to stimulus chart: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085HC9JZ9/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A1L64248LMVFE5&psc=1

Edited April 16, 2020 by katilac

[maize]

If someone's income was too high last year but won't be too high this year you may get the balance of the credit when you file 2020 taxes next spring. If I am understanding correctly this is a pre-payment on a 2020 tax credit, so while they are using information from the past two years to estimate payments for people, if income this year is lower you should ultimately get the credit you qualify for based on this year not last.

I did read that the IRS won't be requiring repayment for any overage if this year's income is higher than last year's. If that is true it is win/win for people whose income qualification is different this year than last year--this year's income qualifies you if it is lower, last year's if this year is higher.

I haven't studied this closely since we are not near the income limits so I may not have everything right.

Edited April 16, 2020 by maize

[Hadley]

I am very glad to see the checks get out.  I wish more had been done.

We did not qualify for the stimulus, nor should we have received any money. Someone upthread was joking about what one must do to not qualify.  In our case, my husband served 23 years in the military and then retired and got a grown-up job.

I think one thing we all need to keep in mind is that different incomes means different things in different parts of the country.  I learned first-hand just how varied cost of living is from state to state through my 20 years of moves.  The house we just bought here cost three times more than the comparable house we had in Texas.  

I think this disparity made this a really tricky game for the government to figure out how to distribute the stimulus, but I do think that they came to the best decision that they could.  

 

Editing for clarity:

I didn’t mean that grown-up jobs are the only real jobs.  It is was a joke in our house that my husband was going to have to figure out what he wanted to be when he started over at age 45.  I’m so very sorry that I offended so many of you.  My sense of humor didn’t come through.  

Edited April 16, 2020 by Hadley

[BlsdMama]

45 minutes ago, Hadley said:

I am very glad to see the checks get out.  I wish more had been done.

We did not qualify for the stimulus, nor should we have received any money. Someone upthread was joking about what one must do to not qualify.  In our case, my husband served 23 years in the military and then retired and got a grown-up job.

I think one thing we all need to keep in mind is that different incomes means different things in different parts of the country.  I learned first-hand just how varied cost of living is from state to state through my 20 years of moves.  The house we just bought here cost three times more than the comparable house we had in Texas.  

I think this disparity made this a really tricky game for the government to figure out how to distribute the stimulus, but I do think that they came to the best decision that they could.  

 

I agree.  There needed to be guidelines and someone was always going to feel put out regardless.  

Just as an FYI, I don't think you meant it to be rude, but the "then got a grown-up job...." There are a whole lot of people who work their tails off at lower paying jobs.  I don't think you meant it to come off as entitled, but that one stings.  I have a dear friend whose husband was wounded 18 years in.  He got a purple heart and medically retired.  He works a decent job but they still qualified for the stimulus.  His job is very much grown up, it just doesn't pay extraordinarily well.  My DH served, the Army was ever so kind to pay for his grad degrees (plural) yet here we are qualified for the stimulus.  Very much working a full time and grown up job.

 

 

 

[Shoeless]

1 hour ago, katilac said:

New hobby supplies to amuse yourself in quarantine? A subscription to MasterClass to learn all the things? 

 

Maybe in a few weeks. I have some needlepoint kits that I am finally sitting down to work on. I might buy some art supplies for kiddo right now. I think he'd be excited to have some new things to work with.

[Amber in SJ]

8 hours ago, maize said:

If she isn't getting any stimulus at all and is married filing jointly her household AGI must be over the 200,000 limit (150,000 is the cut of for the full stimulus amount, the amount then decreases until you hit 200,000).

Definitely in the top 90th percentile of earners.

Well, I don’t know if you are referring to me, but our AGI is under the $200,000 limit, so we got less than 10% of what it would have been if it had been based on our 2018 AGI, where we would have received 100%. The drop off between getting 100% at $150K to 0% at $200K is pretty sharp.  As I explained there were mitigating circumstances that led to our AGI being almost double what it has been in our highest earning year and even though that increase didn’t lead to an influx of cash due to the very high tax rate for the one time gain as well as the gain that was to be had was rolled into our 401k that just got flushed down the toilet with everyone else’s.  We live in one of highest COL areas of the US and one of the areas that has been hit hardest by COVID-19.  We have 2 children who fall into the 17+ hole of not getting money for themselves and us not getting any money for them. Our income has definitely been affected by all of this and will definitely have an effect for many years to come.  It will even have an effect of whether or not Dh can retire when we planned.  As for my job title?  Mine is the same as many on the boards, homeschooling mom.   My Dh is a mechanical engineer in R & D at a small biotech firm, not a project manager, not a VP or a supervising engineer.  And if you think that we make too much for me to complain about not getting a larger stimulus check, let’s discuss what housing, food, insurance and even gas cost here compared to where you live and then you can tell me how you would trade your 100% stimulus check for my AGI.

Amber in SJ

 

[Timberly]

9 hours ago, Scarlett said:

Does anyone know how to get your banking info to IRS if you are self employed?

 

I just went to irs.gov and clicked stimulus.  The calculator asked for my ssn, date of birth, adjusted gross income, and if we paid taxes or got a refund for 2019.  It then gave me the opportunity to enter my bank account number and routing number.

 

[maize]

4 hours ago, Amber in SJ said:

Well, I don’t know if you are referring to me, but our AGI is under the $200,000 limit, so we got less than 10% of what it would have been if it had been based on our 2018 AGI, where we would have received 100%. The drop off between getting 100% at $150K to 0% at $200K is pretty sharp.  As I explained there were mitigating circumstances that led to our AGI being almost double what it has been in our highest earning year and even though that increase didn’t lead to an influx of cash due to the very high tax rate for the one time gain as well as the gain that was to be had was rolled into our 401k that just got flushed down the toilet with everyone else’s.  We live in one of highest COL areas of the US and one of the areas that has been hit hardest by COVID-19.  We have 2 children who fall into the 17+ hole of not getting money for themselves and us not getting any money for them. Our income has definitely been affected by all of this and will definitely have an effect for many years to come.  It will even have an effect of whether or not Dh can retire when we planned.  As for my job title?  Mine is the same as many on the boards, homeschooling mom.   My Dh is a mechanical engineer in R & D at a small biotech firm, not a project manager, not a VP or a supervising engineer.  And if you think that we make too much for me to complain about not getting a larger stimulus check, let’s discuss what housing, food, insurance and even gas cost here compared to where you live and then you can tell me how you would trade your 100% stimulus check for my AGI.

Amber in SJ

 

So your reportable income this year will be below the $150,000 limit? In that case you should be able to claim the rest of the credit when you file your 2020 tax return.

[Hilltopmom]

11 hours ago, kand said:

How was it listed on people‘s automatic deposit? We got something, but we can’t tell if it’s our regular refund, or stimulus check.

I really don’t think we should have gotten one. My dh didn’t lose his job (and I don’t have one) so we’re trying to figure out the best place(s) to donate right now to those that did. Anyone have good ideas for that? So far I’ve seen one local fund for restaurant workers who lost their jobs, and we will do some to that, and then of course local food banks really need donations right now. I wish there was a more organized website where people who need help could be matched with donations (basically like the restaurant worker one, but for any kind of worker). 

Not a donation, but we just ordered our summer CSA share of veggies & meat. Figured a local farmer could use the money right now.

[Hadley]

9 hours ago, BlsdMama said:

 

I agree.  There needed to be guidelines and someone was always going to feel put out regardless.  

Just as an FYI, I don't think you meant it to be rude, but the "then got a grown-up job...." There are a whole lot of people who work their tails off at lower paying jobs.  I don't think you meant it to come off as entitled, but that one stings.  I have a dear friend whose husband was wounded 18 years in.  He got a purple heart and medically retired.  He works a decent job but they still qualified for the stimulus.  His job is very much grown up, it just doesn't pay extraordinarily well.  My DH served, the Army was ever so kind to pay for his grad degrees (plural) yet here we are qualified for the stimulus.  Very much working a full time and grown up job.

 

 

 

BlsdMama,

I am so very sorry that that offended you.  I in no way meant that to be rude.  My husband spent years separated from his family overseas serving his country.

In my circle, we joke about Army retirement jobs as “what are you going to do when you grow up” because it really is like starting over again at 45 years old.  I didn’t think about how that would read in my post.

Trust me, I am an Army wife through and through and miss living that life (well, maybe not the deployments).

I apologize again that that was not clear in my post.

[Scarlett]

6 hours ago, Timberly said:

I just went to irs.gov and clicked stimulus.  The calculator asked for my ssn, date of birth, adjusted gross income, and if we paid taxes or got a refund for 2019.  It then gave me the opportunity to enter my bank account number and routing number.

 

Ok, I am apparently missing something.  I don't see 'stimulus' to click.  I see a box that says 'for non-filers'.  Nothing that says 'Stimulus'.

[BlsdMama]

4 hours ago, Hadley said:

BlsdMama,

I am so very sorry that that offended you.  I in no way meant that to be rude.  My husband spent years separated from his family overseas serving his country.

In my circle, we joke about Army retirement jobs as “what are you going to do when you grow up” because it really is like starting over again at 45 years old.  I didn’t think about how that would read in my post.

Trust me, I am an Army wife through and through and miss living that life (well, maybe not the deployments).

I apologize again that that was not clear in my post.

I appreciate the clarification! I admit my head swiveled and I thought, “No, she did not just...” 😉 

[WendyLady]

2 hours ago, Scarlett said:

Ok, I am apparently missing something.  I don't see 'stimulus' to click.  I see a box that says 'for non-filers'.  Nothing that says 'Stimulus'.

On IRS.gov you can click on “Get My Payment” or “Get Coronavirus Tax Relief” then “check your payment status”. Both will walk you through checking on where your stimulus check might be - if it’s coming by direct deposit or check, etc. 

I used it yesterday and it ended with “unable to determine your eligibility” so that’s great.. 

[Myra]

No , my spouse and I did not get the direct deposit yet even though we e-filed 2019 federal and state taxes already and the IRS has our bank info. 

No, my two kids (in their twenties, not declared as our dependents on 2019 federal/state taxes but they were on 2018 taxes since both students so they already e-filed their own 2019 taxes but since they didn't get a refund turbo tax didn't let them put in bank info) So when we check the feature finally released on the website says there is a tech problem. . .

what's up? 

[Meriwether]

15 hours ago, katilac said:

It costs an average of ten thousand dollars to move a family cross-country. Even allowing for generous overage on that, if you don't make close to $150,000 then his employer paid for more than just moving expenses - maybe expenses for selling the old house, closing costs on the new one, that type of thing. It's a bummer if you forgot about it and expected a full stimulus check, but all of those things, including the move itself, have actual cash value and increase your adjusted gross income (just as things like retirement savings can reduce it). You might want to make sure that you deducted all eligible moving expenses that you guys paid for yourself, plus all the other things, because you could file an amended return. 

It isn't just the money for the move. We have been moved three times with Dh's job and paying the movers is only a small part of that.

[katilac]

4 minutes ago, Meriwether said:

It isn't just the money for the move. We have been moved three times with Dh's job and paying the movers is only a small part of that.

I agree that paying the movers is only a small part of the expenses involved. That was my point:  the employer likely had to pay for more than direct moving expenses in order for it to have a substantial impact on AGI for the poster. 

That's why I also suggested that they take another look at their tax return to make sure they took advantage of all deductions. There are eligible moving expenses that can be deducted to offset the moving money from the employer and help 'balance' changes to your AGI. I'd also double-check for flatout mistakes, because an employer paying for moving expenses shouldn't have a substantial impact on the stimulus check if you don't make anywhere near $150k to begin with. If they left money on the table, they can file an amended return. 

For anyone who hasn't looked at the formula, eligibility for the stimulus is a slope rather than a cliff. In other words, there's no 'hard' cutoff. Once you make more than $150k, the amount you get decreases $5 for every $100 you are over. You reach zero at about $198k. 

[freesia]

We got ours and it was a nice surprise that our dd, who turned 17 in January got money.

I read (I can't link,but think it was in the Washington Post) that the college kid, 17 year old dependents being left out was an oversight and that Congress is already discussing whether to fix it.

[G5052]

I didn't do direct deposit for my 2018 taxes because I was transitioning banks. I'm still working on 2019, but probably will get the docs to my preparer this week.

I could have used it now, but I'll be OK. I just had to refresh a legal retainer for ongoing work, so it will go for the credit card bill when it comes. Thankfully my work hasn't been at all affected by the virus. Summer may be a concern.

[JessieC]

We definitely qualify, but I am getting the "cannot determine eligibility" message when I type in info at irs.gov. It's frustrating, because there is no way to get more answers.

[Arcadia]

On 4/15/2020 at 1:37 PM, maize said:

I've been rather befuddled by people who are above the ninetieth income percentile and who have not lost their income in the current crisis feeling like life is treating them unfairly if they don't get a stimulus check. People in this bracket who complain about not having enough money have some rather skewed perceptions of what enough actually means.

There is a time when gratitude serves a person well.

 @TravelingChris is probably venting. We don’t qualify for the stimulus check but we are going to the “hoard” cash in my husband’s paycheck. More than half my husband’s pay is in stocks which is volatile so we are spending/budgeting like his pay is only the cash portion. We are also in a very high cost of living area due to work.
 

A friend with a well paying job is depressed. She is in hospital admin and would have gladly be furloughed if that was a choice. If she resigned the chance of getting another job is negligible 😞

Another friend is stressed out and have no time to eat, spending 18hr a day on work as a lecturer, including her weekends. Classes switch to online so she has to prep and make her mechanical engineering classes online friendly. She would also gladly take no pay leave if she could. She also don’t dare to resign. 

A third friend who is a doctor is taking a 60% pay cut because work is reduced. So less work less pay. She has finished paying debts so she is happy working 60% less, with the pay cut. 

A fourth friend is the happiest in that friend group because she was lay-off in March but on garden leave (paid leave to stay home) until June. She also received a nice retrenchment package. She is slowly job hunting since she can only start work in July. 

[KidsHappen]

On 4/15/2020 at 9:28 AM, slackermom said:

 

Well I suppose a $2900 credit towards our bill is worth something at least. But it does not help much in the short term.

The IRS site specifically states the only cases where the stimulus check will be with held is if you owe back child support. It will not be withheld in the case of back taxes.

[slackermom]

11 minutes ago, KidsHappen said:

The IRS site specifically states the only cases where the stimulus check will be with held is if you owe back child support. It will not be withheld in the case of back taxes.

 

Thanks. I think the issue is probably that we haven't got a refund in years. We do have a payment plan with them so they actually have our banking info, but that doesn't have them depositing money into an account of ours. I will try to update that if I can get logged on to the site.

[iamonlyone]

None of the four of us in our family who are eligible has received ours, even though our 23 yo has received a federal tax refund check. So, I don't know... The IRS site says "Payment Status Not Available" for each of us. Our 2019 taxes haven't been completed for very long though.

Edited: Never mind. We haven't set up direct deposit, so I read an article that said we should expect checks in the mail later this month.

Edited April 17, 2020 by iamonlyone

[J-rap]

We were surprised to find the stimulus checks in our bank account yesterday!  I really wasn't expecting it, since our situation is quite unusual.  But, we'll put it to good use in our community, and will also be sharing it with our dd who didn't get one.  She was listed as our dependent in 2019 (last year of college), so even though she's living independently now and could really use a little financial help, she didn't get a check.

I understand (in a simplistic way) that in order for this to happen quickly, the government had to create a general formula that not surprisingly has some gaps in it.  Hopefully some of that can be rectified at some point.

[Condessa]

We got ours this week, just in time to be able to use half of it on furniture and other necessary items to be able to accommodate our newest emergency foster placement who came to us on Wednesday, plus to help us keep things organized so our house doesn’t drown in all the stuff of so many people.

I recognize that there was no way to both get the checks out quickly and also to effectively determine who needed/“deserved” them on an individual level, but it still rankles that my foster dds’s parents, who have few expenses that are not payed for by the government anyways, are receiving thousands of dollars for their children who they neglected/abused in 2018 and who they have not lived with for the better part of a year.  It is likely that most of the money will go to marijuana and alcohol.

Edited April 20, 2020 by Michelle Conde

[stephanier.1765]

Our A/C died last night. Repairman has already been out and repaired it but it would have been nice to have the stimulus check to help cover it.

[Carrie12345]

The site let me past the glitch today!!!  I was able to enter my account info, so I guess I don’t have to wait until the end of summer now.

[Amy in NH]

Ours was direct deposited at the beginning of the week.

Now if they'd only release our tax refund, which we filed for in February by copying our forms into the Turbo Tax freefile program.  🙄