What the Additional Covid-19 Relief Package means for you

After six months of debate, Congress joined heads and agreed on a $900 Billion Covid-19 stimulus package that will help supplement relief as the United States looks to abolish the Covid-19 virus. While the back forth across the aisle has extended past what many taxpayers had hoped, this additional stimulus package follows the same principles as its big brother, the CARES Act that we saw in late March of 2020 such as direct payments, PPP, Unemployment, Education institutions, Covid-19 research, etc.  So, what does this all mean for you? Here is a quick summary of the highlights: 

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Direct Payments

Each taxpayer who made under a certain threshold in 2019 is eligible for direct payments starting at $600 with additional amounts for dependent children under age 17. Phaseouts for the initial Recovery Rebate Credit will start at:

• $75,000 Single Filer
• $150,000 Joint Filer
• $112,500 Head of Household Filer

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Small Business - Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

PPP funding from the CARES Act and later the HEROES Act, was used very quickly as business owners raced to complete their applications by set time frames. The additional stimulus package adds $284 billion for small business loans, $20 billion to small business grants, and another $15 billion to live event venues.

If you find yourself in need of these types of benefits, you can still work with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to apply for loans, grants, etc. These will likely go fast, so act quick.

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Unemployment

The CARES Act gave those on federal unemployment due to Covid-19 lay-offs an additional $600 per week. The new stimulus package follows suit, but with only an additional $300 in federal unemployment supplement for 11 weeks.

Unemployment supplement could not have come at a better time as, according to the Department of Labor, 10 million+ people are set to lose unemployment benefits beginning the day after Christmas.

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Health Care

The stimulus package will also help direct $30 billion into the distribution of the two FDA-approved Covid-19 vaccines available from Pfizer and Moderna. Reprieve will also be sent to hospitals to keep pace with increased numbers of covid-19 patients.

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Additional funding and relief

$25 billion will be directed to rental assistance and also extends federal eviction moratorium, an order set by the CDC blocking landlord evictions for nonpayment, from December 31 well into the new year.

Lastly, an additional $82 billion will be funded for schools and colleges, including the expansion of Pell Grants.