Two New Stimulus Checks Could Hit Bank Accounts in The Next Six Months. Are You Eligible For Both?

Although it has only been about three months since President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law, some members of Congress are already pushing for a bill that will authorize new stimulus checks for millions of Americans. The American Rescue Plan funded the third wave of stimulus checks worth an average of $1,400,

A new letter written to President Biden by some members of the House Ways and Means Committee believes that two additional stimulus checks, a fourth and a fifth, might help prevent another 12 million Americans from falling into poverty. In their letter to the President, the legislators also state that when the two new stimulus checks are paired with the $1.9 trillion legislation that Biden has already signed, total poverty in the United States may drop from 44 million to 16 million this year, as per BGR via MSN.

Other advantages contained in the American Rescue Plan, such as the increase in the federal child tax credit that would create monthly payments for millions of families and is due to begin on July 15, might also make that projection come true.

Many stimulus checks from the previous package remain unclaimed

However, Internal Revenue Services (IRS) data indicates that many stimulus checks from the first coronavirus-related stimulus legislation remain unclaimed. This first wave of checks was authorized in early 2020 when the Trump administration was still dealing with the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. A new report from the Boston Herald reveals that the unspent $1,200 checks amount to $1.7 billion in total that the federal government simply shoved out the door and never spent.

To put it another way, unspent stimulus checks are floating around that are worth nearly as much as the full $1.9 trillion stimulus package that Biden signed in March. The IRS data reveals that the unspent stimulus funds are not just accumulating digital dust in bank accounts. The IRS said the money was given to persons who either refused to take it, gave it back, or never cashed the stimulus checks they got from the IRS as a consequence of the CARES Act that was signed into law on March 27, 2020.

Also, two of the most populous states in the US have the most outstanding, unspent stimulus checks. California and Florida had the most unspent stimulus checks, totaling 123,265 and 92,018, respectively.

How to be eligible for new stimulus checks?

The child tax credit was increased from $2,000 to $3,000 under Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, allowing parents with children under the age of six to qualify for $3,600. The bill also allows parents of children under the age of 17 to get a tax credit, which some experts call a baby step toward universal basic income.

The IRS will send a letter to families that qualify for the enhanced child tax credit based on their 2019 or 2020 federal income tax returns. The organization has stated that it will send another letter to families with an estimate of their monthly payment amount, which will begin next month.

According to the IRS per National Interest, qualifying families that used the IRS's website's "non-filers tool" to formally register for a stimulus payment last year will get a letter in the mail. Parents of children under the age of six will get a $300 monthly payment per child, while parents of children aged six to seventeen would get a $250 monthly payment per child.

Individuals earning up to $75,000, joint filers earning up to $150,000, and heads of households earning up to $112,500 are all eligible for the full expanded credit amount, just as they are for the stimulus checks from Biden's relief plan. After that, for every $1,000 of income exceeding these limits, the amount will be reduced by $50.

Payments will be made monthly, beginning on July 15, and continuing through August 13, September 15, October 15, November 15, and December 15. Several Democratic members of Congress have urged the White House to make the payments permanent, claiming that they are critical to a successful recovery.