Stimulus Checks Won’t Be Sent to Americans Who Are Behind on Child Support

Blank Social Security checks are run through a printer at the U.S. Treasury printing facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 11, 2005. William Thomas Cain/Getty Images

Americans who have past dues on child support will not be receiving a direct cash payment that was authorized by Congress on Friday amid the CCP virus pandemic.

Owing other types of debt to the government or back taxes will not disqualify people from receiving a check, said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the head of the Senate Finance Committee.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China before it was transmitted worldwide.

The new $2 trillion bill will turn off “nearly all administrative offsets that ordinarily may reduce tax refunds for individuals who have past tax debts, or who are behind on other payments to federal or state governments, including student loan payments,” Grassley wrote in a statement.

However, the “only administrative offset that will be enforced applies to those who have past due child support payments that the states have reported to the Treasury Department,” Grassley said.

Paramedics move a patient into the hospital during the outbreak of the CCP virus in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York on March 25, 2020. Carlo Allegri/Reuters

The bill is slated to provide $1,200 to individuals and $2,400 for couples, with $500 added for each child, based on 2019 tax returns for those who filed them and information from 2018 if they haven’t.

The amount, however, decreases for people who earn an adjusted gross income of more than $75,000 a year, according to Grassley.

It means that “a typical family of four is eligible for a $3,400 recovery rebate,” he said.

“The rebate amount is reduced by $5 for each $100 that a taxpayer’s income exceeds the phase-out threshold. The amount is completely phased-out for single filers with incomes exceeding $99,000, $146,500 for head of household filers with one child, and $198,000 for joint filers with no children. For a typical family of four, the amount is completely phased out for those with adjusted gross incomes exceeding $218,000,” Grassley wrote.

For those with children, he said that “in general,” a child is a dependent of a taxpayer under the age of 17.

“For the vast majority of Americans, no action on their part will be required to receive a rebate check since the IRS will use a taxpayer’s 2019 tax return if filed or their 2018 return if they haven’t filed their 2019 return. This includes many individuals with very low income who file a tax return despite not owing any tax in order to take advantage of the refundable Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit,” the longtime Iowa Republican said.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the direct deposits will likely be sent out by mid-April.