The rules for a second stimulus check have changed enough to rewrite who is qualified to make more money.

Angela Lang / CNET

Thanks one increasingly tense and complicated turn of events between President Donald Trump and Congress, a second stimulus test is not yet official. But when and if so, this current iteration of the rules in a $ 900 billion stimulus bill has changed enough since the initial stimulus check to reset expectations for parents in a child support situation, including who could be disqualified of a second stimulus test at any level.

The Requirements for the second stimulus test Keep the same definition of a dependent on childrenThat is, 16 years or younger, but approves payments of $ 600 per child as part of the total household amount. Just think about it Qualified adults receive their own stimulus check. But how does that affect your potential direct payment if you owe or owe child support? And could two separated or divorced parents claim the $ 600 benefit, just like the first check?

Everything you need to know is here second stimulus test and child support, like how much money you could get for your dependent on children on both sides of this financial equation. Try ours second stimulus check calculator for an estimate of your total, and here’s what you need to know Waves of payment groups. This story is updated often.

There’s a big change in the second stimulus check to get overdue child support payments

In contrast to the CARES Actwhat made it legal for states garnish the first stimulus check If there is more than $ 150 in arrears up to the entire contents of the payment, this second stimulus check – if required by law – would allow the parent who owes child support to retain all of the contents. In fact, it is forbidden to seize stimulus checks on any type of debt, not even from private creditors and banks.

This also means that if you owe child benefit, you will not receive any money from your child’s other parent the next time you make a direct payment.

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Second stimulus test: everything you need to know

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Why else is it important

If the first stimulus tests were garnished In order to provide overdue child support payments, spelling mistakes sometimes also used stimulus money allocated to a (new) spouse who was not the other parent of the child. Stopping all bouts of stimulus check money means these people wouldn’t have to reclaim their full second stimulus check funds with the IRS.

Could both parents get a check for $ 600 per child with joint custody?

There was a loophole on the initial stimulus test that benefited both parents with $ 600 per child if they filed their taxes in a certain way. The second stimulus check, if passed as it is, would come from your tax return for 2019. It’s not entirely clear if the same rules would apply, but that’s how it went on the first check.

Most of the time – but not always – the non-caring parent pays child benefit to the caring parent who is likely to be calls on the child on their taxes. Sometimes, however, child benefit is also owed if the parents share custody (for example, if one parent earns significantly more than the other). In many of these cases, but not all of them, parents take turns charging the child to their taxes (one in odd years, the other in even years, for example).

In such situations, dependent stimulus payments may be sent to one parent, but not to both parents. In this case, the parent who did not receive the money can do so request it in your tax return for 2020 According to Janet Holtzblatt, Senior Fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, you will receive this along with a refund due in 2021. “Double dipping” is not a bug in this case – both parents could technically qualify for the payment of $ 600 (for a total payout from the US Treasury of $ 1,200 per child).

If your non-parental spouse has deducted money from their first stimulus check for child support that you owe, the IRS will write another check to make up the difference.

Sarah Tew / CNET

There is a way to get child benefit back that has been garnished incorrectly

Though states had the right to garnish CARES Act Stimulus Check money (the first payment) of parents who owed child support, said the IRS, who wrote the checks, there was no intention of allowing states to also deduct from a current, non-parental spouse’s stimulus check.

If you are now married to someone who is not the parent of the child and overdue child support payments have been deducted from funds earmarked for your current spouse, the IRS instructed taxpayers in August to fill out a Form 8379 (PDF) to complete a form to receive replacement exam. However, since then, the agency has said it is looking for such bugs and issuing replacement exams, despite not providing a schedule for them. It appears that the IRS is ironing out that particular crease, so hopefully it won’t be a problem next time.

You can also try to charge Black what was owed in the 2021 tax season by using that Recovery Discount Credit specially developed by the IRS for stimulus checks.

Stay up to date At the latest here for the business cycle negotiationsFind out how much you could qualify with our payment calculator here and see when You may receive a second stimulus check.