The Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Treasury Secretary have already started sending stimulus payments two days after it was signed. Here's how to calculate your second stimulus payment.

Stimulus Money
Unsplash/Alexander Mils

The IRS and the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced two days after Pres. Donald Trump signed the bill that they have been starting sending the stimulus payments. IRS said that they started sending it to banks Tuesday night last week while the paper checks on Wednesday.

If you have already received your second stimulus payment, you can check if the money you received is the right amount, or if you are still about to receive your payment, you can use CNET's calculator. This will help you correct if there are some errors over the amount you received and expect to receive.

Although many have already received their $600 stimulus payments, millions are still waiting as well for their stimulus payments. The amount this time could be smaller compared to the $1,200 direct stimulus checks last year under the CARES Act.

Calculating the amount of your stimulus check can be complicated because some rules were changed. This time, there is a lower income limit and the new rules also affect people with "nonresident alien" status which could prevent them from getting the check even if they received the first one.

Estimate the Size of Your Stimulus Payment

To help you calculate how much you should get in your second stimulus payment, you will need to enter the following:

  • Your Adjusted Gross Income or AGI from your 2019 federal tax return. You can find this on line 8b of 2019 1040 federal tax form.
  • Always remember that a single taxpayer has no dependents, and a head of household does not file jointly with a spouse and claims at least one dependent. The number of your child dependents age 16 and younger can be included in your claim.

If the amount that you received is not the right payment or your child dependents payment is missing, you may need to try to claim a make-up check on your taxes using the IRS' Recovery Rebate Credit.

Moreover, the cent published an article in CNET reports that they are using the same formula the Internal Revenue Service uses to tabulate household stimulus payment. However, take note also that the Stimulus Formula is just an estimate.

Will IRS Send Stimulus to Non-Filers?

The Internal Revenue Service will automatically send stimulus checks to many who normally are not required to file a tax return. This included older adults, Social Security and SSDI recipients, certain veterans, and railroad retirees. The IRS referred to this group as non-filers.

Some People May Not Qualify for the Second Stimulus Checks

Not everyone will receive the second round of stimulus payment this time even if they received the first stimulus checks. If you are above the set threshold of income, a nonresident alien, or a dependent 17 years of age or older you will not qualify for the payment.

According to the People's Policy Project think tank, there are around 13.5 million dependents who will be excluded including the 7.3 million students under the new requirements.