Who can garnish your stimulus check? We’ll tell you.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Your landlord can’t make you hand over your stimulus check money to pay for rent and the IRS won’t seize it for back taxes. You can spend or save your first (and likely second) direct payment, but there are a few exceptions to be aware of that could result in all or part of your stimulus money being garnished.
You may not qualify for a second check (if one is approved soon), but if you know you qualified for your first stimulus payment and still find yourself waiting to receive a direct deposit, check or prepaid EIP debit card, the IRS may have mistakenly overlooked you — or you may have a problem you must resolve with the federal agency. Certain groups who are eligible for that first payment, such as some older adults, retirees, SSDI recipients, noncitizens and those who are incarcerated, must take an extra step to file a payment claim.
Below, we’ve identified the situations that could cause stimulus payments to be garnished. This story was recently updated.
Watch this:
Next stimulus checks: What to expect
3:03
Unpaid debts and your stimulus check
The CARES Act includes protections to keep state and federal agencies from taking all or part of your stimulus check to cover most debts owed to the government (see below for a big exception). Private banks and creditors may, however, be able to seize a payment to cover an outstanding debt. Some states, such as California, have issued orders forbidding banks and creditors from garnishing your stimulus check.
Read more: National eviction moratorium for 2020: What to know about a declaration form and Nov. 1 rent
Although negotiations on a second rescue package are currently at a standstill, the most recent proposals on the table would in most cases prohibit creditors and banks from seizing the payment to pay debts. Likewise, the IRS said you are not required to hand your check over to care facilities, like nursing homes, or to landlords to cover expenses.
How overdue child support affects your direct payment
The CARES Act blocked state and federal agencies from taking a stimulus check to cover government debts such as an income tax debt, but it does not exclude seizing a payment to cover past-due child support.
Is the stimulus money really yours? That depends.
Sarah Tew/CNET
If parents are separated or divorced, only the spouse who owes child support will have the payment garnished. According to the IRS, if a spouse does not owe child support, they will receive their portion of the payment and do not need to take any action to receive it.
Read more: You don’t have to be a US citizen living in America to get a stimulus check
In some cases, a mistake has led to the government garnishing all or part of the stimulus check meant for the current spouse of the parent paying child support (who isn’t the child’s other parent). Here’s how to claim that money.
A Senate Republican proposal for the next stimulus package would continue to garnish overdue child support (this proposal is not law). Under the Democratic package, those who owed support would still receive a payment.
Do you have to pay back your stimulus money?
The IRS said a payment you get this year won’t reduce your tax refund in 2021 or increase the amount you owe when you file your 2020 tax return. You also won’t have to repay a stimulus payment if you qualify for a lower amount in 2021. (Here how your income taxes influence your payment.)
Read more: People who are incarcerated may now be eligible for stimulus checks. Here’s what’s happening
For more information, here’s what we know about the state of negotiations on a second rescue bill and what a stimulus package from presidential candidate (and former Vice President) Joe Biden would look like.