Third stimulus check: Biden doubles down on $1,400 payment. Here’s the latest

The third stimulus check is already proving to be as much of a roller coaster ride as the first two payments, with unexpected turns, peaks and dips as it rushes toward its final conclusion: passage as part of a sweeping COVID-19 relief package. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden reportedly recommitted to a $1,400 stimulus check while on a call with Democrats, according to The Hill. He is still open to a more “targeted” stimulus check when it comes to the number of people who would ultimately get one.

Questions abound. How would the stimulus check formula change to limit the number of people who would get a $1,400 check, and what does that mean for plans to change qualifications and let in more groups of people? Would Senate Democrats attempt to pass the stimulus package using a powerful but rarely used tool? 

Here’s what we know so far about how the stimulus check formula could change, how much money your family could expect, when the next stimulus check could come and what happens if a payment were to arrive in the middle of tax season. For example, would it affect your tax refunds and returns? Here’s what we know so far about a third stimulus check, including how you can set yourself up to potentially get the new funds faster. This story has been updated with new information.

What happened to the $600 billion GOP stimulus plan with the $1,000 check?

Over the last couple of days, Biden and his administration have made it clear that it will not seek to alter his $1.9 trillion stimulus plan to fit a $600 billion counterproposal pitched by a group of 10 moderate Republican senators. Biden wants to keep both the ballpark price tag on the bill as well as the $1,400 per person maximum, saying the Republican offer was “not even in the cards,” Politico and other outlets reported.

“We can’t walk away from an additional $1,400 in direct checks that we proposed because the people need them,” Biden told congressional Democrats during a Wednesday phone call, according to a source speaking to The Hill. “We can better target them.”

What exactly is a ‘targeted’ stimulus check and why do some lawmakers want it instead?

The simple explanation is that some people are concerned that a stimulus check for $1,400 will go out to a proportion of people at relatively high income levels. For example, using our stimulus calculator for the third check, a person could make $102,900 per year (their adjusted gross income) and still get a partial payment… of $5. 

The point is that if lawmakers want people who make below $75,000 per year to get $1,400, there are going to have to be adjustments to how things are done. One way would be to change the stimulus check formula that was used in the first two checks. Another would be to present an arbitrary cutoff (e.g., a check would only go out to people who make under a certain amount per year, as per their AGI). A third could be to lower the maximum amount of the next stimulus payment (because, math). Our stimulus check article explains more.

If the third check for $1,400 is passed, is it possible some people will still get $2,000?

Biden’s stimulus plan calls for the next check to max out at $1,400 per eligible adult — not the $2,000 some originally expected. The idea is that this third check “raises” the $600 maximum set out in the second stimulus check to $2,000, once you combine the per-person payment totals — but without factoring in dependents.

We can’t say for certain why Biden chose $1,400 as the maximum instead of $2,000, but there’s been opposition to a $2,000 stimulus payment. If Biden is trying to keep the proposal below $2 trillion, a larger stimulus check could push his $1.9 trillion stimulus bill proposal over the threshold.

One question on people’s minds is whether, if the qualifications were extended to new groups of people who weren’t included in the first round, the new recipients could get the entire $2,000 sum. There hasn’t been significant public discussion around the topic, so it’s one we’ll continue to monitor.

What will the timeline be for a new stimulus payment?

With a smaller, piecemeal bill that focuses on a third stimulus check and COVID-19 vaccine distribution off the table, Democrats are now looking for a March 14 passage of the next stimulus bill. We mapped out some dates a third stimulus check could potentially arrive, depending on who you are.

Could other stimulus check eligibility requirements change with the third payment?

Biden proposes two changes that have been popular among Democratic lawmakers. The first would expand qualifications to dependents of any age, including 13.5 million more people, according to the People’s Policy Project, like college students, older adult relatives and dependents of all ages with disabilities (not just those under 17 years old). The $600 billion Republican proposal would count $500 per dependent of any age (PDF).

The second change to eligibility would include all “mixed-status households” with one or more family members who aren’t US citizens. For example, if the parents aren’t US citizens, but their children, who were born in the US, are. The second stimulus checks expanded eligibility to families with one US citizen spouse.

How quickly can the IRS send the new checks if approved? Would they have another deadline?

The IRS and Department of the Treasury set a blistering pace to deliver the second stimulus checks, starting within days of former President Donald Trump signing December’s stimulus bill. They had to. The language of the bill provided only a 17-day window to send the checks before the imposed deadline. There were millions of direct deposit errors, and now anyone missing stimulus money will have to claim it as part of filing 2020 taxes. (Yes, even tax nonfilers, too.)

It’s too soon to say if the IRS would automatically send a third check to recipients as they have done with the second stimulus checks, or if the money would be wrapped up into a Recovery Rebate Credit. or something like it. We walk through more possible scenarios for the third stimulus check timeline here.

How a $1,400 payment might bring more money to families, even if it’s targeted

A larger maximum total per person is the obvious way your household would see more money from a third check than from the second, but there’s more to it than that. Since the upper limit for the second check is $600 per adult, with an extra $600 per child dependent, the way the IRS’ formula works out, more people hit the upper income limit for receiving a second payment, which means they won’t actually qualify to get any stimulus money at all.

A third stimulus check could make more groups of people eligible to receive a stimulus check (namely noncitizens who pay taxes), and bring a larger check total to qualified individuals and their families. A change to your circumstances might also mean you qualify for more money this time. Here are other ways a third stimulus check could put more money in your pocket.

For more information, here’s other funding that could be in the next stimulus package, how to calculate your second stimulus check payment and who may not qualify for a stimulus check.