Usually I do freewrites – Today I reviewed two Laws our government passed to provide aide and here’s what I found. This should serve as a Quick Short Guide to what the American Government really did while writing what you’ve come to know as the “Stimulus Package Deal”
Sources:
Bill S3548 (CARES ACT)
https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/s3548/BILLS-116s3548is.pdf
H.R. 6201 (FAMILIES FIRST CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE ACT)
https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/s3548/BILLS-116s3548is.pdf
A very short summary of what I thought was important for us to know:
The amount you will be getting for the month of April if you qualify –
- A tax rebate between $600 – $1200 based on your income (plus or minus 75K a year salary)
- You must be considered an “income earner” or have filed taxes to be eligible
- You could get up to $2400 if you filed as a Joint Return
- $500 additional per child
This credit is to be paid as TAX REBATES from your 2020 taxes. If you have not filed yet. It comes from your 2019 or 2018 tax return.
Regarding COVID-19 testing and medical care:
- Under your health insurance plan, COVID-19 testing is free
- The doctor visit, ER visit, copays, coinsurances and deductibles are waived ONLY IF your visit is solely for taking the test.
- On the backend however, your health insurance plan will be still negotiating payments with the providers for your visits and testing.
Regarding small businesses:
- Small businesses will get a LOAN based on their monthly expenses multiplied by 12 months OR
- Up to $10,000,000.00 maximum each for a 3-month period
My concerns:
These bills do not talk about whether the end of this year’s taxes will be affected due to the advanced credit the IRS is providing for these tax rebates
It seems to me like taxes people pay yearly are basically being refunded. And the concern is that next year if the economy stabilizes, they are going to hike up the tax to gain back their credit.
The bill does not talk about how your health insurance plan could be affected even though you don’t have to pay upfront for doctor visits or tests
For small businesses, they have a short window of “aide” and the bill does not provide security after a maximum of 1 year without penalties.
The links above aren’t reader friendly. They do that so we don’t read it and watch the news instead. I encourage you to review it and get in the habit of doing so. I didn’t come anywhere close to covering what’s actually in those bills today. Including EDD.
In the meantime, if you think this was helpful, please let me know. I’d be more than happy to continue coverage on this as time allows knowing that it helps people stay informed without news drama.
M.