How the coronavirus stimulus check could impact your 2020 taxes

Millions of Americans who are eligible for a coronavirus stimulus payment started seeing the money deposited to their bank accounts this week. The Department of Treasury announced the majority of people would receive these funds within the next two weeks. The IRS will use tax filings for 2019 or 2018 to determine who gets a payment and how much. But what happens to Americans who do not traditionally file their taxes?

The Treasury Department worked with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to create a new tool, which allows people who normally don’t file their taxes to get a check. The tool provides a free option for people, including those with too little income, to file their taxes to receive stimulus payments.

“This tool works for all non-fillers,” Richard Winchester, law professor at Seton Hall University School of Law told Yahoo Finance. “That would include people receiving Social Security, retirement or disability benefits.”

The IRS then uses this tool to determine a person’s eligibility and send a stimulus payment. Users can provide their bank account information to get funds via direct deposit.

For filers and non-filers who have not yet received their money, the IRS also developed a tool to track your payment, called “Get My Payment.”

“At the end of the day, anyone who has a bank account should give that information to the IRS,” Winchester said.

While stimulus checks start to arrive, some are wondering if the government will make them pay back this money on their 2020 taxes.

“The answer is probably going to be no,” Winchester said. “It is is very clear that this is not going to be subject to federal income tax, but on the state-tax side, every state is different— but legislators are already tuned into this and they don’t want it to happen.”

Valentina Caval is a Producer with Yahoo Finance.

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