People Making More Than $200,000 Are Getting $1,400 Stimulus Checks

Since the American Rescue Plan became a law in March, 163 million stimulus checks have gone out to help those struggling financially because of the pandemic, however, it turns out people in need aren't the only ones who received the direct payments. Even though the checks were only supposed to go to individuals making less than $80,000 and households earning less than $160,000, according to a new report from the Bureau of Labor, some people making more than $200,000 a year received the $1,400 stimulus checks as well as the $1,400 checks for their dependents.

In fact, the report shows that 127,751 stimulus check payments went to high-earners who might not have qualified for them. In total, they were paid $392.3 million. So how did this happen?

Well one way is because the IRS didn't yet have their 2020 filings, so the agency instead used their 2019 returns, which showed less income than 2020. If that is the case, those people do not need to return their checks.

Also, because of the complicated formula used to determine how much each household is eligible for, there are actually some high-earners who do qualify for stimulus checks, but it is only those with very large families since the more dependents in a household, the higher the threshold before they do not receive a check at all.

The good news is that the majority of the stimulus checks, 52% of the ones sent before June 4th, went to those earning less than $50,000, while another 10% went to residents who didn't file taxes in 2020 or 2019 because their income was too low to require it. Overall, 85% of the third round checks went to households that earn less than $100,000.