Is there a 4th stimulus? Nope.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
A 4th stimulus for all is not on the horizon. If you see headlines about a fourth stimulus check, don’t fall for the okie-doke. It is click-bait. As of the time of writing this (4/27/21), anything you have seen about a 4th stimulus is being pumped out as chatter designed to get you to click, read and hope. Monthly stimulus payments for some money are coming for some people, but read on to see what that is all about.
But My Brother’s Sisters Uncles Babysitter…
Anything that is still in the pipeline is trickling in from the prior stimulus package. Some people are seeing a surprise direct deposit touted as “fourth stimulus”. Nope. That’s called the Plus Up. It is a recalculation for some people from Round 3. Below, we spell out what is actually happening with a “4th stimulus” and monthly payments. 90% of taxpayers with dependent children do have some money in the pipeline, but that is not new a one-for-all payment. It’s an off-shoot from Round 3. We talk more about that below.
For the People in the Back
We are the straight shooters you expect. But if you are new around here, you might not know we spit facts. We tell you when something is just hype. So for the record, based on our reading and digging (for which most of you have come to trust based on our track record) there is NOT a one-for-all stimulus check in the works. Taxpayers with dependent children could have some money in the pipeline, we talk more abut that below. If you want to quit reading, trust us, we will be back with the real deal if it’s something everyone can count on. For those of you that have dependent children or those of you who are fueled by hope for other monthly payments, we detail the “fourth stimulus” payments below. Keep reading.
Just Political Chatter
One more time…we got your back and will tell you upfront. Damn, I feel like a broken record. There is not a fourth stimulus just around the corner for everyone. There is merely a plea for more money by a handful of Congressional Democrats and a group of economists. We like that, but it hasn’t come together. The talk you might have heard about monthly payments? 90% of taxpayers with dependent children do have some money in the pipeline. But that is part of the LAST stimulus package. It is not new a one-for-all payment. It’s an off-shoot from Round 3. Other talks about monthly stimulus payments for all is on some political wishlists. We talk more about that below.
But I saw so and so in the news or on YouTube.
I have recently seen people, including myself, start to flock towards some popular news channels and YouTubers who have previously been pumping out content DAILY about a fourth stimulus check. I won’t specifically call them out now. But there is one popular outlet that has an acronym sort of like NETC and the other has a catchy name that keeps popping up. Let’s just say, it rhymes with Beat Devin.
CNET and Meet Kevin (oops I did call them out) have been stringing people along all year, with near daily headlines about stimulus. Most recently, the catchy clicker we are seeing is 4th stimulus. I repeat, it’s just chatter and hope. We think there is a LOW LIKELIHOOD of more money in the money printing pipeline for all people that we have seen 3 TIMES so far. You might argue that this article itself is clickbait. But we said from the gate and about 95 times so far, there is not solid intel signaling a fourth stimulus.
The 4th Stimulus Hype
What you might get next, being drummed up by those other people as a “4th stimulus” could be for some taxpayers with dependent children. It’s not like that big lump sum we have seen 3 times for everyone. It could be a small monthly amount that represents 1/6th of 1/2 of the 2021 child tax credit, being paid in advance. How much? Keep reading. Some democrats and President Biden are calling for this to be a permanent thing through 2025. But, as of now it is only temporary for this year and set to begin being cooked up in June. Note, we said “cooked up”. This means money in pocket might be more like July. Below is what you can expect next if you are a taxpayer with dependent children. We cover the real “4th stimulus” chatter for everyone below too. Keep going.
Monthly Payments for All
Nope. Right now, what we should see go down next is another new IRS portal, JUST to handle the advanced child tax credit monthly payments. Don’t think big fat chunks of stimulus money like before. Divide that up into much smaller amounts paid automatically to you each month from July to December 2021 if you opt-in. Yep, you got it. Automatically is supposed to happen — if a new portal is up and running in June AND you choose via this portal that you want it (…IF you qualify). So what to watch for next if you have dependent children is the roll out of another IRS portal for advanced child tax credits. Think this: if my income this year is tracking towards qualifying for the Child Tax Credit…half of the credit, divided in six payments. Other monthly payments for ALL people is just chatter in the pipeline, we cover that below.
Monthly Child Tax Credit
Monthly stimulus payments are indeed coming for a certain group of people. It is a form of “stimulus“, but it was carved out in the last package for some people with dependent children and is not a come one, come all fourth stimulus check. The last stimulus package called for an increase to the already existing Child Tax Credit (CTC) and called for 1/2 of the credit to be paid periodically in advance during 2021.
If you typically qualify for the CTC, this normally is money you would see in your pocket in 2022 when you file taxes (for 2021) if you are due a refund. How much exactly will the advance monthly child tax payments be? There are about 6,000 articles on the Googler and a monthly child tax credit calculator on about 3,000 of those sites that signal how much those payments will be. It depends on the number of dependents and it phases out for people at certain income levels.
What? Say again. Monthly Payments for All?
That sounds like that Universal Basic Income (UBI) that we see chitchat about from lefty politicians. $1000/mo? $2000/mo? This too is being peddled as a fourth stimulus. While you might hope something like that is in the pipeline, we think that it is a pipe dream. What is all this pipe shit? If you are fueled by hope, we are too. But don’t count on it yet. We will call it out if it seems anywhere remotely to having solid legs to stand on.
So to wrap it all up, as of this writing (4/26/21) there is talk, being labeled as “4th stimulus” that is more along the lines of a monthly amount to a subset of people. For the umpteenth time, there is not a come one, come all fourth stimulus check. Yet.
