Why you may not get a check: This GOP coronavirus bill excludes lots of people for bad reasons
by Timothy P. Carney
| March 21, 2020 10:56 AM
Republicans can’t decide whether their coronavirus economic response is a cash payment to families or another tax cut.
Tax cuts are great for all sorts of reasons, but they’re not the optimal means of helping people who suddenly lost their incomes in an unprecedented global economic crisis caused by a pandemic.
So the Senate bill tries to mix tax cuts and cash payments into a neat package. The bill provides for $1,200 per adult and $500 per child. If your goal was to get people cash right away, your cash-payment scheme might end there. Give people money. If you’re worried about this money going to high-income people who aren’t losing work, don’t fret — they will pay taxes on that money, while folks whose incomes go way down will pay no taxes or lower taxes on their payments.
But because Republicans insist on treating these $1,200 payments as tax “rebates,†things get janky. First, the bill would phase out the payments if your 2018 income was higher than $75,000 ($150,000 for a couple). Second, it would shrink the payments if your 2018 tax liability was less than $1,200 ($2,400 for a couple). Also, if your income in 2018 was below $2,500, you get no money at all through this bill. These last two provisions have one big perverse effect: Poorer people get smaller checks.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/why-you-may-not-get-a-check-this-gop-coronavirus-bill-excludes-lots-of-people-for-bad-reasons
