The third round of stimulus checks has been broadened for the first time. Adult dependents will receive payments, including nearly 13.5 million college students.
College students can now receive stimulus checks
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - MARCH 12: Graduate student Aubrey Simonson protests inside Building 10 on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology on March 12, 2020 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Students have been asked to move out of their dorms by March 17 due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) risk. Protestors are frustrated by MIT's rejection of some evacuation exemption requests. All classes will be moved online for the rest of the spring semester.
As senators aim to get President Joe Biden's COVID-19 relief bill approved in the coming days, Congress negotiations are progressing. The package, known as the American Rescue Plan, provides government aid worth $1.9 trillion and is intended to help the worst-hit by the pandemic.
Much of the package focuses on delivering significant financial relief in the form of unemployment benefits and stimulus checks. According to AS.com, the latter was a major aspect in previous bills, and Biden reaffirmed his adherence to a $1,400 payment.
But the qualifying requirements seem to be different for the third wave of stimulus checks, with President Biden looking to open them to more Americans. College students identified as adult dependents will also be eligible for stimulus checks for the first time, but they will not be personally able to receive them. Those that are cited on another tax payer's return are adult dependents.
This suggests that the payment would be added to the other person's stimulus check eligibility, most likely in the case of a college student. Thus, in the next round of payments, households should hope to earn considerably more.
As it is, the eligibility requirement is thought to remain the same as the previous rounds, but with some small changes. For people making up to $75,000 a year, or $150,000 for couples who file together, the entire amount would be available. However, the stimulus check entitlement fades out more rapidly than in the past if the adjusted gross revenue (AGI) hits those numbers. For any stimulus check payments, single taxpayers making above $87,000 would not be qualified.
Read also: Third Stimulus Checks: Are You One of the Eligible Americans to Receive It, and When?
Can college grads receive stimulus checks for previous rounds?
Regarding the American Rescue Plan, retroactive stimulus checks have been addressed, but it seems that historic stimulus checks will not be commonly repaid for now. However, as the AGI number used to determine the stimulus check eligibility is based on tax returns, you will claim the money once you become financially stable.
In 2020, students who completed college last year might have been financially stable, meaning that by the time they file their tax returns in spring 2021, their status may have improved. College grads' change in status would make them eligible for the stimulus checks. This will enable them to pick up previous stimulus payments, Janet Holtzblatt of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center says.
College grads are getting $1,800 stimulus checks
Jonah Yonker, a 23-year-old web developer in Orlando, has never received a stimulus check, but that is about to change. Congress passed two relief bills last year that distributed $1,800 to taxpayers in two waves, Orlando Sentinel on MSN reported. However, the money was not given to college students who were dependent on their parents. Now, nearly a year after the first round of stimulus checks, when they file their tax returns for 2020, people like Yonker can see the cash rolling in.
For the next stimulus checks, more college dependents should be eligible, Yonker said. He said it should focus on necessity and not on the state of dependence. In May, the House passed the HEROES Act, which extended the required stimulus to cover full-time college students. But in committee in the Senate, the bill expired. But not everybody who missed out on the checks would get them.
Read also: Third Stimulus Checks: Couples Would Get $2,800, Families with Children of Two to Receive $5,600
