Personal Finance

First $1,400 stimulus checks will go to those with direct deposit

Key Points
  • The first batch of $1,400 stimulus checks offered by the $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill likely will go to people who gave direct deposit information when they filed their tax returns.
  • President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan on Thursday.
  • Stimulus checks may hit bank accounts as soon as this weekend, the White House said Thursday.
Ting Shen/Xinhua via Getty Images

The federal government will issue the first batch of $1,400 stimulus checks to Americans who gave direct deposit information when they filed taxes for 2019 or 2020, a Treasury Department official confirmed to NBC.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan offers one-time direct payments to those who qualify — the third round of stimulus checks since the pandemic began.

President Joe Biden signed the Covid relief bill on Thursday.

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Some Americans will receive stimulus checks as soon as this weekend, the White House said Thursday.

The initial group of recipients will be followed by taxpayers who didn't provide direct-deposit information but for whom the IRS has payment information from other programs.

 To see how much relief you could expect to receive, personal finance website Grow created a calculator that factors in your filing status, annual income and the number of dependents you have.

The IRS will be able to send money electronically for taxpayers who filed returns with direct deposit or bank account information. The government will send paper checks or debit cards to those households for which Treasury cannot determine a bank account.

The IRS will use information on 2020 tax returns to determine eligibility and check amount. The agency will use 2019 record for households that haven't yet filed their taxes this year — including people who used the "non-filer portal" for previous rounds of payments.

The legislation offers full $1,400 payments to those with adjusted gross income of up to $75,000 for individuals, $112,500 for heads of household and $150,000 for married couples who file a joint tax return.

These five other benefits are included in the new $1,400 stimulus check bill
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Five other benefits are included on top of the new $1,400 stimulus checks

The payments are reduced for those with income above those thresholds. Payments will be capped at individuals earning $80,000 in income, heads of household with $120,000 and married couples with $160,000.

For those who lost their jobs, the timing of filing a tax return has been complicated by a newly offered tax break on unemployment benefits.

The relief measure waives taxes on up to $10,200 of jobless benefits individuals received last year. That offers an incentive to delay filing 2020 tax returns. However, since a loss of income in 2020 may make someone eligible for a stimulus check, there may be an urge to file a tax return quickly to reflect that income to the IRS.

Three ways your eligibility may change for the $1,400 stimulus checks
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Three ways your eligibility may change for the $1,400 stimulus checks