The US government offers aid in the form of monetary payments and credits for a variety of different needs and situations. Housing benefits, healthcare assistance, food assistance, disability payments, grants, and stimulus payments are some of the most common ways that US residents are getting payments from the government.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the economy, causing millions of businesses to shut down and leaving many more millions out of work.
To prevent the American economy from collapsing, and to assist with the tremendous economic burden that so many millions of families are facing, the government created the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
In this post, you will get an overview of the CARES Act, including how it works, who is eligible for stimulus payments, and what other benefits you can get.
The CARES Act: An Overview
The main purpose of the CARES Act is to help Americans get through the pandemic. With so many people out of work and so many businesses shutting down, the simple fact of the matter is that people are struggling to pay their bills and make ends meet.
The most important thing that the CARES Act did for people is to provide direct stimulus payments either in the form of a check or a direct deposit to your bank account. These payments were issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in April 2020.
To receive payments, you must have filed taxes in 2019, and the IRS must have either your bank account or physical address on file, where your prior year’s tax return is associated with.
Aside from stimulus payments, here are some other benefits that the CARES Act provides:
- Expanded unemployment benefits: If you are unemployed and getting unemployment payments from the government, you might be eligible for more money, and to receive the money for a longer period of time.
- Home loan and renter relief for federally-backed mortgages
- Student loan relief for federally-backed education loans
- Temporary Credit Report Protection: If you have fallen behind on payments as a result of the pandemic, and you were up-to-date on payments prior to that, you can ask your creditor to not contact the credit reporting agency about your late or missing payments. As a result, your credit score won’t get severely affected.
- Small business administration loans
- Tax credits for businesses payroll expenses
For the full details on how the CARES Act applies to your situation, and to see if you qualify for stimulus payments, visit the Help With Bills page on USA.gov.
