Calculate your second stimulus check amount: $600, $2,000, more?

Now that the new COVID financial relief bill has been signed into law, eligible Americans are starting to report they’ve received the second stimulus check via direct deposit. The IRS said on Tuesday it has begun making payments straight to bank accounts and sending out paper checks and EIP cards through the mail. The new law authorizes $600 payments for adults and children under age 17, but you may not qualify to receive that upper amount in your second stimulus check.

To calculate how much you could expect to receive with the second payment, we created a stimulus calculator to generate an estimate of your amount, following the formula the IRS will use to calculate your second stimulus payment.

And because the Senate this week might increase the payment amount to $2,000, we have a second calculator below that lets you get an estimate of how much of that $2,000 payment you might expect to receive, if legislators agree on the larger amount.

We recently updated this story.

Estimate your $600 second stimulus check here

Before you use the $600 or $2,000 stimulus check calculator tool below, you’ll need your adjusted gross income, or AGI, from your 2019 federal tax return: Find that figure on line 8b of the 2019 1040 federal tax form. (If you don’t typically file taxes, we share more details below.) To estimate the amount of the second check, enter all your child dependents age 16 and younger. A single taxpayer claims no dependents, and a head of household does not file jointly with a spouse and claims at least one dependent.

Stimulus payment No. 2: Eligibility basics to know about the $600 payment

Broadly, here’s who is eligible for money with the second stimulus payment. With the new law, payments top out at $600 apiece, and as you reach the upper AGI limit, the amount of your check will decrease. A family of four that qualifies, for example, could receive up to $2,400. For a complete breakdown, check out our stimulus check qualifications guide.

To get the full $600 stimulus per person, either:

• As an individual without qualifying children, you have an adjusted gross income of up to $75,000 (this completely phases out at $87,000, down from the $99,000 used for the first check).
• You file as the head of a household (you claim children) and earn under $112,500.
• You file jointly without children and earn less than $150,000 and no more than $174,000 (down from $198,000 from the first check).
• Any dependent child under age 17 will count for an additional $600.

Note, if you don’t qualify for a second stimulus check based on 2019 data but you would qualify based on your 2020 financial situation, you will not receive a second check this year. However, you can get that amount as a credit against your 2020 taxes.

If you qualify based on 2019 tax information but will be over the limit in 2020, you will receive a second check and do not need to repay it.

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Estimate your $2,000 second stimulus payment here

Immediately after signing the new COVID-relief bill on Sunday that authorized the $600 payments, President Donald Trump asked Congress to adjust the amount to $2,000 for individuals and dependent children. On Monday the House passed a bill that would bump the amount to $2,000 and sent the proposal to the Senate, which is considering the bill this week. While it’s unclear if or when the Senate will vote to approve the larger amount — and even less uncertain if it will approve the larger amount — here’s a calculator that can give you an estimate for you much you could except if the $2,000 payments are approved. The eligibility basics are the same as for the $600 amount.

How would my second stimulus payment reach me?

If the IRS has your banking information on file, either from your federal taxes or from the first stimulus payment, your payment could come directly to your bank via direct deposit, starting Tuesday night, the IRS said. The Treasury Department said as of this summer that about 75% of recipients were paid via direct deposit, 22% by paper check and 3% through a prepaid EIP card.

When will the IRS begin sending out checks?

Paper checks will go out starting Dec. 30, the IRS said. On Dec. 21, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, “The good news is [direct deposit] is a very, very fast way of getting money into the economy. Let me emphasize: People are going to see this money at the beginning of next week.” 

The IRS will continue to send payments in the mail on paper checks and prepaid EIP cards to those for whom it does not have banking information on file in the new year. But sending the payments won’t drag on for months, as the first payments did. By Jan. 15, if the IRS has not sent your payment — or sent the wrong amount — you can claim your money when you file your taxes this year.

If I’m not required by law to file taxes, what do I do?

As with the first checks, the IRS will automatically send stimulus checks to many who normally aren’t required to file a tax return — including older adults, Social Security and SSDI and SSI recipients, certain veterans and railroad retirees. The IRS refers loosely to this group as nonfilers.

If you fall in one of these categories, enter your best guess in the calculator where it asks for your adjusted gross income.

Who might not be eligible for the new stimulus payment?

We have a list of people who may not qualify for a second stimulus check. If you are over the income limit, a nonresident alien or a dependent 17 years of age or older, you won’t qualify for a check. The People’s Policy Project think tank estimates 13.5 million adult dependents will be excluded under the requirements, including 7.3 million students.

For everything to know about the second payment, see what else is in the new stimulus legislation, when the IRS could start sending checks and what we know about renewed federal unemployment benefits in the new law.