# Instead of payroll tax cut, Trump now plans to send checks directly to Americans, soon **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 17, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678 "2020-03-17T19:48:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/41 "2020-03-19T19:43:37Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Not quite. IIRC it became taxable then next year, you didnt have to pay it all back, only maybe 28%. No it didn’t become taxable. No you didn’t have to pay ANY of it back. But if you are sure this was the case, [here are all the previous year tax forms and instructions](https://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/priorFormPublication.html). Please point out where it says you had to do this. There was a [first-time homebuyer credit in 2008](https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc611) that had to be repaid. But the general rebate that almost everybody got did not. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/42 "2020-03-19T20:32:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I suspect (and hope even) that the checks will be for people who file tax returns, and sent to that address. Are people with incomes who file tax returns this year the only recipients? Where do they receive checks if they’ve been evicted and now live in a van or tent? Are people with secure addresses those most in need of a couple of kilobucks? Are they likely to repeat the Dubya saga and use the money for savings or debt payment rather than economy-boosting consumption? I don’t expect satisfactory answers for an obvious, absurd bribe-the-voters ploy. The poorest and neediest, those most likely to consume, are left out. Fuck the proles and peasants. They hopefully won’t have the strength to revolt, right? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/43 "2020-03-19T20:48:51Z")
I have no illusions this will happen, but they could set up a fund to deposit unclaimed and undeliverable checks. Use this fund to support food banks and homeless shelters. But it will never happen. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/44 "2020-03-19T20:53:10Z")
1-So the proposal that it be $1000 for adults plus $500 for every child isn’t going to happen? I was wondering how they’re going to know how many children are in a household. 2-Are these checks taxable? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/45 "2020-03-19T21:05:16Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > A $1 million threshold is beyond ridiculous. I’m not really sold on this idea in the first place, but if it were going to be implemented it should target those under the most potential strain. Like $100k or less - $65k would be fine. > > Giving a check for $2k to someone making $750k/year is the worst fucking kind of pandering. Maybe where you live. Where I live if you make $85K a year you qualify for housing assistance. Households in Santa Clara County have a median income of over $126K. Not to mention that making $100K last year doesn’t mean you have a job today. You might think this is a lot of money. With rents and housing prices around here, it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/46 "2020-03-19T21:09:45Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > That’s a big assumption. It’s not like the government has a big master list of everyone in the USA, updated constantly. > > I just filed my 2020 tax returns, which aren’t due yet. My 2019 returns have an incorrect address. My bank, credit card companies and the postal service are in possession of my current address but I don’t register an address with the government and I don’t notify them if I move. Freedom and democracy. > > I don’t see, logistically, how the government will get the info to “just send a check to everyone”. They have social security and disability info, tax returns - and maybe access to local tax rolls. But there would be lots of duplicates between those lists, and possibly lots of outdated addresses. I’m really curious to see how this will work. You underestimate how much the government knows about us. When I applied for Social Security the book I read said you need to bring your marriage license. When I did it, they knew all about it and I didn’t need to document anything. In any case, this is a fine example of the best being the enemy of the good. Even if 5% miss out (and I hope have an opportunity to appeal) 95% getting this payment will be good for the economy and good for them. They made this work 20 years ago with relatively primitive data processing capabilities. It will work good enough now. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/47 "2020-03-19T22:08:20Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > 1-So the proposal that it be $1000 for adults plus $500 for every child isn’t going to happen? I was wondering how they’re going to know how many children are in a household. > 2-Are these checks taxable? We don’t know anything until Congress actually passes a law and the IRS publishes procedures. THIS IS PURELY A GUESS, but I bet it will be for every child for whom you claimed the child tax credit. They have never been taxable before, but Congress can make them taxable if it wants. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/48 "2020-03-19T22:11:26Z")
> [@Mnemnosyne](#): > > I’m surprised that anyone on the Republican side is considering anything like this. I heard Romney was in favor of this too. That said, I seriously doubt it’ll happen. I can’t imagine enough Republicans going along with something that might actually help people to let it pass, especially not McConnell. Though I would be delighted to be proven wrong. I would not be surprised if Republicans outright adopted socialism and used it as a cudgel to bend blue states to their will. They’d claim they invented it, they’d call it “Capital Socialism” or hell, maybe drop the fig leaf and make it “National Socialism”. Agree to abolish sanctuary cities, let ICE run rampant, and let the government abuse women and minorities, and poof! Universal healthcare for your state. If anybody could/would pull that off, Trump would be the guy. The Republicans are in a historical moment where they have political license to repeat anything Trump says if it helps them stay in power. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/49 "2020-03-19T22:21:09Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > I would not be surprised if Republicans outright adopted socialism and used it as a cudgel to bend blue states to their will. They’d claim they invented it, they’d call it “Capital Socialism” or hell, maybe drop the fig leaf and make it “National Socialism”. I really doubt they’d call it anything that had the word “socialism” in it. It would probably be “Working Families Tax Relief” or “Small Business Leadership Funds.” ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/50 "2020-03-20T01:19:57Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > I really doubt they’d call it anything that had the word “socialism” in it. It would probably be “Working Families Tax Relief” or “Small Business Leadership Funds.” Such relief and funds will likely funnel into districts with (R) legislators, not areas full of “disloyals”. [“My” congresscritter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_McClintock) sucks rosy Rosebuds so I’ll be funded while coastal residents are left to smoke dog turds, as it were. Just to be safe, I’ll start a small business selling Tulsi Gabbard campaign souvenirs. What, she dropped out? I’ll go bankrupt! Send me more relief checks! ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/51 "2020-03-20T01:41:18Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Maybe where you live. Check my location. > [@](#): > > You might think this is a lot of money. With rents and housing prices around here, it isn’t. Exactly my point. It is not going to make much of a difference to those at the top of the scale - it pretty much is throwing what is effectively pin money at folks who don’t need it. Want to up the level to $150k/year for Santa Clara county? $200k? Okay, fine. I’m not sure I agree, but I won’t bitch too much. But $1 million or anything close to it? C’mon - that’s absurd. Nobody who is making a million a year or anything close to it needs one or two grand for groceries or to make rent. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/52 "2020-03-20T05:24:56Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > They’d claim they invented it, they’d call it “Capital Socialism” or hell, maybe drop the fig leaf and make it “National Socialism”. They’ll take a page from the CCP and call it “Capitalism with Republican Characteristics”. Isn’t that already the crud that Trump’s been pulling with things like his government bailout of the farmers he screwed with his totally unnecessary trade war? Come to think of it, in one sense that son of a worm has been a wartime president since he took office. Of course he’s been losing every war he’s started. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/53 "2020-03-20T07:06:43Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Check my location. > > Exactly my point. It is not going to make much of a difference to those at the top of the scale - it pretty much is throwing what is effectively pin money at folks who don’t need it. > > Want to up the level to $150k/year for Santa Clara county? $200k? Okay, fine. I’m not sure I agree, but I won’t bitch too much. But $1 million or anything close to it? C’mon - that’s absurd. Nobody who is making a million a year or anything close to it needs one or two grand for groceries or to make rent. Make it $750 K, or maybe $500K, no problem. $100K, big problem. But they should be Amazon gift cards, since there doesn’t appear to be anyplace else to spend money not involving food these days. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/54 "2020-03-20T12:05:54Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > They’ll take a page from the CCP and call it “Capitalism with Republican Characteristics”. Isn’t that already the crud that Trump’s been pulling with things like his government bailout of the farmers he screwed with his totally unnecessary trade war? I got it… the successor to the Republicans is “The Popular Socialist Party”. Trump names Bernie as his new running mate. Bernie plays ball, because he’s Bernie. The new administration cuts relief checks to every state who passes a law requiring every abortion clinic to be raised to a height of 100 feet on platinum girders, and remands every undocumented person to ICE to be returned to Mexico by shooting them over the border from a cannon. Meanwhile the National Review editorial board sits in the corner crying and wondering how they got it so right while everyone else got it so wrong. Welcome to the reconciliation ticket from hell. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/55 "2020-03-20T13:34:13Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > e scale - it pretty much is throwing what is effectively pin money at folks who don’t need it. > > Want to up the level to $150k/year for Santa Clara county? $200k? Okay, fine. I’m not sure I agree, but I won’t bitch too much. But $1 million or anything close to it? C’mon - that’s absurd. Nobody who is making a million a year or anything close to it needs one or two grand for groceries or to make rent. Well, you may get your wish now. The Senate Republican proposal now says, [“$1,200 for individuals with incomes up to $75,000, and up to an additional $500 per child.”](https://ktla.com/news/coronavirus/senate-republicans-roll-out-1-trillion-economic-stimulus-package-to-address-coronavirus-fallout/) ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/56 "2020-03-20T13:44:29Z")
That’s a pretty low cut-off. There’s not a single person I know, here in the Washington DC area, who will qualify at that low of a threshold. Except my wife, who makes $0. But I’m guessing she doesn’t count. Yes, I realize there are plenty of folks who will qualify, even in NOVA. Good for them. But obviously this program is not targeting middle class relief for many population centers. It’s geared toward the hourly workers and such. I await the kudos from the SDMB on how the Republicans are looking out for the less fortunate and sticking it to the salaried folks. ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/57 "2020-03-20T14:09:01Z")
When this kind of thing is proposed, I wish that there was a formula that was applied to make the salary cutoffs fair. Maybe the salary divided by the average rent for a one bedroom apartment in an area. One of the senators from South Dakota said that everybody would agree that $75,000 is the end of the middle class range, but as a person in Metro-Boston, I disagree. Using [this calculator](https://money.cnn.com/interactive/economy/middle-class-calculator/), I am in the bottom quarter of middle class but won’t qualify for the stimulus check. In South Dakota, I would be in the upper 10 percent. If the stimulus is meant to help tipped/hourly/etc. employees, then I am all for it. But if it is meant to help the middle class, there needs to be some refinement of the cutoffs. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/58 "2020-03-20T14:33:41Z")
I don’t care so much for regional variations, and am also not sure what the income cutoff should be, but I’m against welfare cliffs for philosophical reasons, so I’m hoping that it scales down as income rises rather than just, you make $75,001, you don’t get jack, but it’s possible the articles just don’t mention that or I missed something. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/59 "2020-03-20T14:40:41Z")
Well they keep changing it around and there are multiple proposals. But yes at least some drafts scale it down at high income with nothing received over $100k. But also scale it down for those with low tax liability. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678/60 "2020-03-20T14:41:25Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Are people with incomes who file tax returns this year the only recipients? Where do they receive checks if they’ve been evicted and now live in a van or tent? I hear a lot of complaints, but not a lot of solutions. How would you get money to people who don’t file taxes, to the homeless, and so forth? Sending checks or direct deposits through the IRS system is simply the easiest way to do it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-payroll-tax-cut-trump-now-plans-to-send-checks-directly-to-americans-soon/849678.md?page=4)