Congressional Research Service IN11580.1 (COVID-19 and Direct Payments: Summary of the CASH Act (H.R. 9051, 116th Congress) Modifications to “Stimulus Checks”)
Summary
CRS Insight IN11580.1, COVID-19 and Direct Payments: Summary of the CASH Act (H.R. 9051, 116th Congress) Modifications to Stimulus Checks, dated January 22, 2021. It summarizes how the Caring for Americans with Supplemental Help (CASH) Act, passed by the House at the end of the 116th Congress, would have expanded the second round of payments in P.L. 116-260 and modified the first round in the CARES Act (P.L. 116-136) for households with older children and adult dependents. Among its three changes, the CASH Act would have raised the second-round payment by $1,400, from $600 to $2,000 per eligible individual. The Insight notes that the Biden Administration has proposed increasing the checks in a similar way.
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INSIGHTi
COVID-19 and Direct Payments: Summary of
the CASH Act (H.R. 9051, 116th Congress)
Modifications to “Stimulus Checks”
January 22, 2021
At the end of the 116th Congress, the House passed the Caring for Americans with Supplemental Help
(CASH) Act (H.R. 9051). The CASH Act would have expanded the second round of stimulus checks
enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260) and modified the first round
of checks enacted in the CARES Act (P.L. 116-136) for certain households with older children and adult
dependents. The Biden Administration has proposed increasing already enacted stimulus checks in a
similar fashion as proposed in the CASH Act. This Insight summarizes how the CASH Act would have
expanded and modified already enacted stimulus checks.
Proposed Changes to Stimulus Checks in the CASH Act (H.R. 9051, 116th Congress )
The CASH Act would have made three changes to the direct payments that have already been enacted by
the CARES Act (first round of payments) and P.L. 116-260 (second round of payments). Specifically, the
CASH Act would have:
1. Increased the maximum amount of the second round of direct payments by $1,400 (from
$600 to $2,000 per eligible individual) and by $2,800 for most married couples (from
$1,200 to $4,000 if filing jointly).
2. Increased the maximum amount of the second round of direct payments from $600 per
qualifying child to $2,000 per dependent. This would represent a $1,400 increase of the
maximum payment amount for qualifying children (from $600 to $2,000) and a $2,000
increase for all other dependents who are not qualifying children (from $0 to $2,000).
(These dependents are older children and adult dependents and are currently ineligible for
the additional amounts for qualifying children for both rounds of payments.)
3. Changed the first round of direct payments from $500 per qualifying child to $500 per
dependent. This change would represent a $500 increase of the maximum payment
amount for all dependents who are not qualifying children (from $0 to $500).
Other parameters of the already enacted stimulus checks (e.g., phaseout level, phaseout rate, ID
requirements) would have been unchanged under this proposal.
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IN11580
CRS INSIGHT
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Congressional Research Service 2
The CASH Act changes would have retroactively increased the payment amounts for many
stimulus check recipients, as illustrated in Table 1 and the subsequent figure. Table 1 provides
examples of how the maximum payment amount would have increased under the CASH Act.
These increases would have arisen because of the changes that increase the maximum amount, as
well as the changes that expand eligibility to older dependents.
Table 1. Maximum Additional Amounts of Direct Payments
Under the CASH Act (H.R. 9051, 116th Congress) for Selected Households
First Round of Direct Second Round of Direct Proposed Supplement from the CASH
Payments Payments Act
Household (P.L. 116-136) (P.L. 116-260) (H.R. 9051)
Unmarried individual $1,200 (qualifying individual) $600 (qualifying individual) +$1,400 (2 nd round qualifying individual)
with no dependents
=$1,200 =$600 =$1,400
and $50,000 of
income
Unmarried individual $1,200 (qualifying individual) $600 (qualifying individual) +$1,400 (2 nd round qualifying individual)
with a qualifying child +$500 (qualifying child) +$600 (qualifying child) +$1,400 (2 nd round qualifying child)
and $80,000 of
=$1,700 =$1,200 =$2,800
income
Unmarried individual $1,200 (qualifying individual) $600 (qualifying individual) +$1,400 (2 nd round qualifying individual)
with an adult +$0 (adult dependent) +$0 (adult dependent) +$2,000 (2 nd round adult dependent)
dependent (e.g., 45 +$500 (1 st round adult dependent)
=$1,200 =$600
years old) and
=$3,900
$80,000 of income
Married couple with $2,400 (qualifying married couple) $1,200 (qualifying married couple) +$2,800 (2 nd round qualifying married couple)
an older child +$0 (dependent in college) +$0 (dependent in college) +$2,000 (2 nd round dependent in college)
dependent (e.g., 17- +$500 (1 st round dependent in college)
=$2,400 =$1,200
18 years old) and
=$5,300
$100,000 of income
Married couple with $2,400 (qualifying married couple) $1,200 (qualifying married couple) +$2,800 (2 nd round qualifying married couple)
two qualifying +$1,000 (qualifying children) +$1,200 (qualifying children) +$2,800 (2 nd round qualifying children)
children and
=$3,400 =$2,400 =$5,600
$100,000 of income
Sources: CRS Analysis of P.L. 116-136, P.L. 116-260, and H.R. 9051.
Notes: Unmarried individuals with no dependents are assumed to file their federal income taxes as single filers, unmarried
individuals with qualifying children or other dependents are assumed to file as heads of household, and married couples are
assumed to file as married joint filers. All of these households have income below the phaseout threshold ($75,000 for
single filers; $112,500 for head of household filers; $150,000 for married joint filers) and hence receive the maximum
payment amount.
Some higher-income taxpayers subject to the phaseout would have also benefitted. Insofar as the
maximum amount of the second payment amount were to be increased, the income level at which the
payment would be zero would also increase. For example, under current law, the $2,400 payment for a
married couple with two children would phase out to zero for those with income over $198,000 (as
illustrated below). If the payment were $8,000, it would phase out to zero when income was $310,000 or
more.
Congressional Research Service 3
The second round of payments had to be issued by January 15, 2021 (the first round had to be issued by
December 31, 2020). Eligible households who do not receive either payment automatically must file a
federal income tax return and claim the payment as the recovery rebate credit.
If a bill similar to the CASH Act were to be considered in the 117th Congress, it is currently unclear
whether supplemental payments would automatically be issued, or whether eligible populations would be
required to claim the supplemental amount on their 2020 income tax return. It is also unclear whether a
similar bill in the 117th Congress would be drafted to create a new, separate third round of payments, or
whether the bill would retroactively amend payments made by the first two rounds.
Congressional Research Service 4
Author Information
Margot L. Crandall-Hollick
Acting Section Research Manager
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