Families and individuals in Puerto Rico should soon begin to receive the coronavirus stimulus checks provided by the CARES act. The official name for this payments is “Economic Impact Payments.”
In Puerto Rico, as in the States, people who earned up to $75,000 in 2018 or 2019 (the last year filed) will receive $1,200 for individual adults, $2,400 for married couples who file taxes jointly, and $500 for each dependent child under 17. No payments will be made for dependents over age 16, such as college students or elderly relatives living in the home.
Individuals must also have a Social Security number in order to be eligible for the Economic Impact Payments, and babies born in 2020 will not be eligible, though their parents may file for payments next year.
However, Puerto Rico will have a different method of disbursement than States.
The central requirement is that Puerto Rico (and the other possessions) must have a plan to distribute the funds to residents. The U.S. Secretary of the Treasury must first approve the plan before checks are distributed.
In the 50 states, everyone who filed tax returns in 2018 or 2019 will automatically receive the coronavirus stimulus payment. Those who provided banking information will receive the payments as direct deposits to their banks, and most have already received those payments. The same is true for people who receive Social Security payments, even if they do not file tax returns.
Checks will be mailed to those who do not have bank accounts, or who are eligible in spite of not having filed income tax returns. In the States, it is expected that checks will begin to arrive in May, and that all checks will have been disbursed by August.
Puerto Rico has its own plan for distributing the funds. Secretary of the Treasury Francisco Pares Alicea told El Nuevo Dia that people in Puerto Rico who either receive Social Security payments or pay federal income tax will have begun to receive their payments just as those living in the States have.
The Puerto Rico Treasury will send Economic Impact Payments to those who are eligible for the payments but are outside those groups. In some cases, people will have to furnish the government with information about their income. Puerto Rico will send out the payments as quickly as possible, and will then be reimbursed by the federal government.
Payments will begin in the last week of April.
