The new stimulus payment is set to hit the bank accounts of millions of Americans on Friday. The payment is for the second of six child tax credit payments being made by the federal government which is being dispatched Friday and reaches mailboxes by the weekend.
This stimulus payment is a part of the many elements of the $1.9 trillion stimulus law that was passed in March this year. The stimulus also included the $1,400 stimulus checks.
The latest stimulus payment to Americans to be dispatched, however, is related to a separate benefit that had been made possible by the stimulus law.
Under the law, the federal child tax credit was expanded temporarily. Parents of every child under six years are slated to get $3,600 per child instead of $2,000. And for parents of children between ages 6-17, the stimulus payment will be $3,000.
The government, however, has divided the amount being paid into chunks instead of giving that money in one installment. The idea is arguably to make parents feel that a lot of stimulus checks are arriving. As per the arrangement, the entire amount would be split in half with the first check coming by the weekend, while the next check would be paid up next year. Parents have to file their federal taxes as is the case with any normal tax credit.
Further, the first half of the money is also not being disbursed at once. It has been divided into six stimulus checks that will be sent over time with the first checks being dispatched on July 15. The latest stimulus check will be the second with the final of the first half of the money to be paid on December 15.
The rest three stimulus checks under this system are slated to come on Sept. 15, Oct. 15, and Nov. 15.