Treasury Secretary Details Ways Americans Can Get $1,200 Stimulus Check Faster | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's note: This informational nugget was sent to me by Ben Shapiro, who represents the Daily Wire, and since this is one of the most topical news events, it should be published on BCN.

The author of this post is Joseph Curl.

    Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says Americans who qualify for federal assistance under the $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill passed by Congress can expect to see $1,200 checks deposited into their bank accounts "within three weeks."

    Mnuchin, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that the government will set up an online system so Americans who are not currently signed up can do so quickly.

    "We expect that within three weeks that people who have direct deposit information with us will see those direct deposits in their bank accounts," he said. "And we will create a web-based system for people where we don't have their direct deposit they can upload it, so that they can get the money immediately as opposed to checks in the mail."

    Under the bill passed by Congress, individuals are eligible for payments up to $1,200, but that amount declines for those with an adjusted gross income higher than $75,000 a year. The $1,200 payment drops by 5% of every dollar above $75,000, or $50 for every $1,000.

    The benefit doesn't apply for individuals with incomes over $99,000.

    Married couples with combined incomes up to $150,000 would receive $2,400, subject to the same phaseout that applies to individuals. The payments would be phased out entirely for couples making $198,000 or more. Families also get $500 per dependent child under the age of 16.

    About 120 million U.S. taxpayers will qualify for direct payments from the federal government under the bill, according to an analysis by one think tank. But it 's unclear what year the feds will use to determine an individual's income.

    "American Action Forum said IRS statistics show that 120 million taxpayers in 2017 were in income brackets meeting the bill's guidelines for the new cash payments," The Washington Times reported. CNET.com had a different scenario:

• If you've filed your 2019 federal tax return, you can find that figure on line 8b of the 2019 1040 federal tax form. It's line 7 on the 2018 1040 tax form.
• The total amount of your stimulus check will be based on your adjusted gross income, or AGI, from your 2019 federal tax filing or - if you've not filed this year yet - your 2018 filing.
• If you've filed your 2019 federal tax return, you can find that figure on line 8b of the 2019 1040 federal tax form. It's line 7 on the 2018 1040 tax form.

    "To calculate the amount of your check, Uncle Sam will start with that $1,200 figure," Kiplinger wrote. "If you're married and file a joint tax return, then both you and your spouse will get $1,200 (for a total of $2,400). If you have children who qualify for the child tax credit (they must be 16 years old or younger), you get an additional $500 for each child. So, for example, a married couple with two children can get up to $3,400."

    Kiplinger's offers a calculator to help people determine what they will receive.

    In another interview on "Fox News Sunday," Mnuchin said the second fiscal quarter - April, May and June - will not be good, but predicted that America will begin to rebound economically in the third quarter.

    "I don't know what the numbers are gonna be this quarter. What I do think is, we are gonna kill this virus," Mnuchin said. "We're gonna re-open this economy. And in the third quarter of this year, you're gonna see this economy bounce back with very large [gross domestic product] numbers and low unemployment back to where we were beforehand."