{"id":113620,"date":"2021-02-19T22:33:43","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T22:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=113620"},"modified":"2021-02-19T22:33:43","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T22:33:43","slug":"how-1400-stimulus-checks-could-be-best-targeted-based-on-past-payments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/business\/how-1400-stimulus-checks-could-be-best-targeted-based-on-past-payments\/","title":{"rendered":"How $1,400 stimulus checks could be best targeted based on past payments"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New $1,400 stimulus checks could be sent to millions of Americans if the current coronavirus relief proposal is approved.<\/li>\n
Research showsthe recent $600 checks fell short when it came to helping individuals and families pay their bills.<\/li>\n
However, the new direct payments could help shore up Americans' finances through July. Still, questions linger as to whether that relief needs to be more targeted to those most in need.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
A new coronavirus relief bill could give millions of Americans $1,400 stimulus checks.<\/p>\n
Congress is poised to pass the legislation in March, at which point individuals and families could see the money in the following days or weeks.<\/p>\n
But as negotiations continue, one argument has surfaced: Is the amount too much or too little? And who exactly should be eligible?<\/p>\n
The current proposal calls for sending $1,400 to individuals, or $2,800 to married couples who file their taxes jointly. Their children and adult dependents would also be eligible for $1,400.<\/p>\n
More from Personal Finance:<\/strong> As Washington debates $1,400 checks, who qualifies may change Child tax credit proposal could give families more aid than stimulus 8 million missing out on unemployment benefits<\/p>\n
As with the first two federal stimulus checks authorized last year, those who qualify for full payments will have to be below certain income thresholds: $75,000 for individuals, $112,500 for heads of household and $150,000 for married couples who file jointly.<\/p>\n
However, discussions on Capitol Hill have raised reducing those thresholds, as well as the caps under which the payments phase out, to lower income levels.<\/p>\n
One Republican plan called for lowering the bar for full payments to $40,000 for individuals and $80,000 per couple, while capping the payments at $50,000 and $100,000, respectively.<\/p>\n
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., has also expressed concerns that high-income people could qualify.<\/p>\n
Yet others, like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, have said they are against lowering the thresholds.<\/p>\n
"Identifying the cutoff is hard," said John Leer, economist at Morning Consult, which recently released research on how the most recent checks were spent.<\/p>\n
"There are risks to both sides: the risk of giving money to people who don't need it and the risk of not giving money to people who do need it," Leer said.<\/p>\n
Data on the most recent checks could help suggest how future payments might be better targeted.<\/p>\n
What data shows about the $600 stimulus checks<\/h2>\n