On Tuesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said that the Trump administration plans to send money to Americans immediately. The cash injection could provide support to Americans who have seen dramatic income declines due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
Some good news – in the form of money – may be coming to Americans soon… Americans need cash now,” Mnuchin said, indicating checks could come in the next two weeks. The announcement follows much discussion over how the government could act to help shore up American workers’ bank balances now, with so many businesses temporarily closed or operating at reduced capacities.
Details on how big the checks the Trump administration hopes to deploy have not been disclosed. Of course, any plans would need a green light from Congress. “The basic idea of getting money into the economy very quickly is a good idea,” said Leonard Burman, institute fellow at the Urban Institute, a non-partisan think tank, and co-founder of the Tax Policy Center.
Whether and how the extra income is taxed will also depend on the terms of the program. Burman said he thinks making that extra income subject to income taxes is a smart move. That way, he said, it would put a greater burden on high earners to pay more of it back. It would also increase state income tax bases that will be hurt in a recession.
One thing to remember about a universal plan to pay all Americans is that it is not based on financial need. “It’s going to be too much for some of them and not enough for others,” Burman said.
MacDailyNews Take: Those who need it, need it. Those who don’t should consider donating to a charity such as a local food bank to help those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, some will spend it on a new MacBook Air (working from home), a new Mac mini, a new iPad Pro, or other Apple products which helps Apple employees and Apple suppliers.
See also: Trump Administration aims to send $2,000 to many Americans in coronavirus stimulus — March 18, 2020, 3:07pm EDT
More info on the Prevention & Treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) via the U.S. CDC is here. Track the Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) here.