Text The Times.

I have a question… I have heard that we will have to pay back the money we got for the coronavirus? If so, how is that going to help anyone if we are just going to have more bills when this is all over? [ Editor’s Note: There’s a little provision about the stimulus checks that isn’t getting a lot of attention and that is the fact that this money isn’t a gift. It’s actually an advance rebate on your 2020 tax return. Now before you start to panic, that doesn’t mean you’re going to have to fork over an extra $ 1,200 ( or however much you got) when it comes time to file your 2020 taxes. The stimulus is technically a “ tax credit” and no, you don’t have to pay taxes on it. And it’s not a loan. It’s actually money given to taxpayers that they’ve already paid in or will pay in. I don’t really know enough about tax code to explain it as well as I’d like, but the bottom line is that NO… you will not have to pay the money back. NO… it will not affect your tax return this year, next year, or any other year. I will note that even as we speak, there are plans to possibly do another stimulus check or pandemic relief payment, and the rules on any of those have not yet been decided]

Here’s what everyone is talking about this week: