Two experts are answering your stimulus questions. Emily Campbell is from The Center for Community Solutions, a non-partisan think tank located in Columbus, and Jon Kerr, assistant professor of accounting and management information systems at Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University.
What year of taxes are they going off of?
"The 2021 stimulus payments are based off the 2020 tax returns - i.e., the returns filed this year for the period Jan 2020 through December 2020,” Kerr said. “Unless you haven't filed yet, in which case it would be based off the 2019 tax returns."
I got the first stimulus check, but not the second. How can I make sure I get the third?
“Getting one stimulus, the first, the second, doesn't mean you'll qualify for the third," Campbell said. "The very first stimulus checks could have been based on your 2018 earnings…and also with each round of stimulus they're narrowing the eligibility."
The new stimulus plan also expands the child tax credit in some big ways, providing more money to more families.
"There's one estimate that 95% of Ohio's children will benefit,” said Campbell.
How will that be paid out?
"For low-income Ohioans or those who may be unemployed, the expectation is that the tax credit may be broken up into monthly checks,” Campbell said. "For most of us though that benefit from the tax credit improvements, we'll see that when we file our taxes next year."
"Most recent guidance regarding the increased Child Tax Credit appears to be that it can be received either as a lump payment with the tax refund payment or as monthly payments July through December of this year,” Kerr said.
When will the money be deposited?
Checks could start going out within days of President Joe Biden's signature.
You can listen to our full interview with Campbell below.
