Senate passes $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill

On Saturday the Senate passed a $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill that now awaits an expected vote Tuesday in the House. It is a massive stimulus package that will impact a lot of Arizonans. We talked about it with local tax expert Tom Wheelwright.

Wheelwright explained the basics of what comes next by stating, “It’s going to pass and President Biden is going to sign it, that’s the first thing. It’s going to have a big impact on a lot of people I mean there are some families that are going to get a lot of money when you include the stimulus checks, plus the checks for the kids, plus the credits, I mean there is a lot to unpack in this package.”

When speaking specifically about direct payments, the expert explained, “Individuals making less than $75,000 and it phases out between 75 and 80, or couples making less than 150,000 phasings out to 160,000, will get $1,400 per person including children. So rather than a smaller amount per child, it’s the same $1,400 so basically, a family of four is going to get four payments of $1400 right up front.”

Jobless benefits are also being extended in this package. Wheelwright broke that down as well saying, “This was a change that the senate made that they reduced it back to the current $300 threshold, so it’s the same amount that it is now, it’s just going to be extended to September 6th.”

Also included in the bill is a focus on small businesses.

“There are some serious credits for people who have been particularly damaged by the pandemic and they (the government) are trying to help them come out of the pandemic and restart.”

Wheelwright is a CPA, which gives him tax expertise, and he also discussed the difficulty he sees in next year’s taxes. He even went as far as to say that most people will struggle to attempt to complete their taxes without outside help.