You might not qualify for more stimulus money when a second payment happens. Here’s why

A second stimulus check might not be approved until 2021, but discussions aren’t closed yet. Negotiations on two current stimulus proposals so far leave out the direct payment, but the stimulus check has strong support from leaders on both sides of the aisle.

When and if more money arrives to individuals and families, the qualifications are expected to shift in ways that would bring some people a bigger check, a smaller one, or, for tens of millions of people, no stimulus money at all. (Here are the five priority groups we’ve found for how soon people would get a check.) 

Below, we break down who we think may not be eligible to get a second stimulus payment, which we’ve based on the first direct payment requirements and on the current lay of the land. While you’re here, we also share 12 facts to know about stimulus checks now that the end of the year is approaching. We recently updated the information in this story.

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Single ‘high earners’ won’t receive a payment

Your adjusted gross income, or AGI, is the sum of money you earn in one year minus approved deductions. The IRS used your AGI to determine if you qualified for all, some or none of the first $1,200 stimulus check. Under the CARES Act, your AGI cutoff as a single taxpayer was $99,000 per year to qualify for a stimulus payment. If you earned more than that through a paycheck or other assets, like stocks, the IRS wouldn’t send you a check.

If you make between $75,000 and $95,000, however, you would get a portion of the check, and the same will likely be true of a second payment if the income rules don’t change. Here’s how to calculate how much money you could get.

Read more: Want your stimulus check faster? Do these things now

Heads of household have this income limit

Similar to the single-taxpayer cutoff, heads of households (people who don’t file jointly and who claim a dependent) with an AGI over $146,500 were also excluded from the CARES Act — unless you qualified thanks to a loophole. To get some of the stimulus money, you would need to make less than $146,500. To get the full amount, your AGI would need to be less than $112,500 as the head of household.

Married couples with an AGI that exceeds this cap

If you’re a married couple filing jointly and have an AGI above $198,000, you likely won’t be eligible for a second stimulus payment, unless your children create a situation that appears to be an exception. To get the full payment of $2,400, your joint AGI would need to be less than $150,000. The amount you could receive will decrease if your AGI is between $150,000 and $198,000.

To determine your adjusted gross income, locate your 2019 tax statement. You’ll find your AGI on line 8b of the 2019 1040 federal tax form. If you didn’t file taxes in 2019, locate your 2018 tax document and navigate to line 7. 

Kids over 16 and students under 24 are an open question

When the first round of stimulus checks was sent, millions of young Americans were excluded from receiving the payment — with these exceptions. Those who were between the ages of 17 and 24 and who were also claimed as child dependents didn’t get a check of their own due to the tax code definition of a child. So if you’re 17 or older, you’re not considered a child under the CARES Act, even if you still live at home.

While the House of Representatives passed a proposal that includes $500 in stimulus money for any person claimed as a dependent, regardless of age, the most recent White House proposal would keep the CARES Act definition, but increase the amount from $500 to $1,000. Even so, if someone claims you as a dependent on their taxes, you won’t get a check of your own. Now that former Vice President Joe Biden is president-elect, however, it seems that the current White House administration is no longer supporting that version of the stimulus proposal. 

People defined as ‘nonresident aliens’ — what we know

If you’re a nonresident alien, you may not be eligible for a second stimulus check. The government defines a nonresident alien as someone who “has not passed the green card test or the substantial presence test.” 

Note that you didn’t have to be a US citizen to receive the first stimulus payment. Noncitizens must have a Social Security number and live and work in the US to receive a stimulus check under the CARES Act.

The Democrats’ revised Heroes Act proposal from Oct. 1 would extend stimulus checks to a group of people who aren’t US citizens and pay US taxes, with a taxpayer identification number provided by the IRS.

If you’re married to a ‘nonresident alien’ spouse, you may not qualify

If you’re married to someone who is considered a nonresident alien, the two of you weren’t able to receive the first stimulus check for yourselves or money for your dependents if you file your taxes jointly — even if the qualifying parent and child are citizens of the US. 

Currently, in order to receive a stimulus check, you’ll both need to have a Social Security number or be a member of the US Armed Forces during the tax year. If you file your taxes separately, the citizen may be eligible for a full or partial stimulus payment. The same goes for US citizens who claim their child dependents (as head of household) on a separate tax return from the noncitizen spouse. 

If you owe child support (but this might change)

With the first stimulus check, if you owed child support payments by as much as $150, the government gave the states the right to garnish the amount you needed to pay. For example, if you owed $2,000, your entire stimulus check went to your child’s other parent. If you owed $500, that amount was taken out of your stimulus check.

The next stimulus bill could include the same language, depending on which one gets passed. The Democratic proposal would prohibit garnishing money to pay missing child support, whereas the Republican-authored HEALS Act would keep this requirement.

Incarcerated people: What the law says now

Originally, people in jail and prison were deemed by the IRS to be eligible to receive a stimulus check, and then they were interpreted as ineligible. But a ruling by a federal judge in California allows inmates to file for the first stimulus payment online by Nov. 21, noting that the CARES Act didn’t explicitly ban this group. 

The IRS has appealed this decision but has sent paperwork to prisons for inmates. It’s unclear whether incarcerated people will get a second stimulus check, even if they received the first, and it may depend on the wording either in the successful stimulus bill or in the final ruling on the ongoing case.

People who have died since the last federal tax return

The IRS “sent almost 1.1 million payments totaling nearly $1.4 billion to deceased individuals,” according to the US Government Accountability Office, before asking for the money back (return process here).

If someone has died since the previous tax filing, the current IRS guidance is that they’re currently not eligible to receive a check and their families can’t keep the money on their behalf — for example, if the deceased filed taxes jointly with a spouse. If by accident a check is addressed to them, the IRS expects the family to return the payment, though they may not be legally required to do so.

It’s unclear if families could collect a second stimulus check on behalf of a person who has died, for instance, as a result of COVID-19. A precedent for this exists, however. Families were able to keep the stimulus checks from the 2008 economic crisis in the event of a death, according to ProPublica and CNBC.

There may also be exceptions, like if the deceased person died in 2020, Janet Holtzblatt, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, said in April. The Bureau of the Fiscal Service has canceled outstanding stimulus payments to anyone who isn’t eligible — including those who died before the checks were received.

If you’re still confused about whether you’ll be eligible for the next stimulus payment, here’s who may qualify for a second stimulus check. Also, you may not get a stimulus check if you move and forget to file a change of address. Plus, here’s when the IRS could send the second check, if approved.