You read the headline correctly. Inmates can receive the $1,200 stimulus checks after a federal judge ruled they are eligible for the payments earlier this month. CNBC reported October 14:
Prisoners are getting a second chance at receiving the $1,200 stimulus checks the government sent this spring.
Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California recently ruled that the government should not withhold those checks from people solely because they are incarcerated.
There are roughly 1.5 million incarcerated people in the U.S., and many of them meet the requirements for the stimulus payments, according to Yaman Salahi, partner at the law firm Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, which represented the prisoners in the case.
Almost 85,000 prisoners received $100 million in stimulus checks earlier this year before the government reversed course and decided they were ineligible.
The court also ordered the IRS to correct related information on its website.
The IRS response to the question, “Does someone who is incarcerated qualify for the payment?” was updated Oct. 8 to state that, in response to the lawsuit, the agency cannot deny the money to people who meet the standard qualifications.
Individuals who are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, who were not claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return and who have annual income of less than $99,000 generally qualify for a stimulus payment. (It will be reduced if their income is more than $75,000.) Article
The IRS posted an update on its website on October 19:
A14.Pursuant to a permanent injunction entered in Scholl v. Mnuchin, No. 20-cv-05309 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 14, 2020), the IRS cannot deny a payment to someone who is incarcerated if they meet the criteria described above in the response to Q A1. Information can be provided to the IRS by using the Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info here online tool by November 21, 2020. Or, you may mail us a 2019 simplified paper tax return following the procedures at File a Simplified Paper Tax Return by the court-ordered deadline of November 4, 2020.
The Mississippi Center for Justice happily posted how Mississippi inmates could get stimulus money on its website.
MDOC refused to comment.
Kingfish note: Just think of all the goodies the Mississippi Center for Justice wants to fund: extortion, drugs, smuggling, bribes, and of course, hit jobs.
16 comments:
Mexicans and Canadians working in the USA (either legally or illegally) can claim dependents back in their native country. This allows them to request an IRS alien tax ID and file ruturns with multiple dependents and receive enormous refund checks from the IRS.
We don't really have so many illegal Canadians in the USA though. So take a wild guess who is taking the most advantage of this tax loophole.
That one is on Congress, not the judge. Judges don't make law, they read the law.
Now maybe some of these convicts can pay down some of their restitution.
The way this administration (Congress and Senate included) rolled out the stimulus plan is ridiculous and embarrassing. From this all the way to the ridiculous amount of unemployment funds people received to the PPP money, this was one big cluster with not much thought put into it. Increased our national debt unnecessarily and recklessly.
The ones printing the money out of thin air are criminals too.
What’s the difference?
Burl is going to h
Get his cut.
FYI: Republicans run the White House and Senate. The conservatives have a system in place where inmates get a stimulus check but people such as myself who work everyday didnt get the full amount due to us earning too much. Keep that in mind when you vote for fiscal conservatives.
Explain to me how anyone who gets free room, board, exercise facility, library, television and other "perks" from us taxpayers is eligible for the PPP money which is designed to help people affected by the Covid epidemic. Somehow I fail to comprehend that thinking!!
Virtually every convict in prison has unpaid fines. Surely they will not them actually get control of this money.
"Now maybe some of these convicts can pay down some of their restitution." Great idea, just like a car dealer will use your $1000 rebate check when you buy a new car.
@ 11:58 AM -- the CARES Act was authored by Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) as H.R. 748. Ignorance is a poor basis for bold statements.
Plenty of people are in jail for unpaid child support. I hope the stimulus money goes straight to the mothers of those children who have dirt bag fathers.
Anyone who claims inmates are receiving “perks” such as “free room, board, exercise facility, library, and television” has obviously never stepped foot in a prison. I considered taking one criminal case early in my career and quickly declined after having to interview the prospective client in jail. Jail is miserable (as it should be) and no amount of money will make it better. Just look how hard Scruggs and other wealthy white collar criminals with full canteen accounts fought/fight for early release.
12:50 - all true about it is 'generally' miserable. I say generally because there are several federal pens that are not - and that is where Scruggs thought he was entitled to go.
But all inmates, even those in your 'miserable' living do receive free room, board, meals, etc. They have no expenses, and also have no way to spend the 'stimulus' check. The purpose of the 'stimulus' check was to stimulate the economy - for people to go spend it on whatever they choose; pay the rent, pay the mortgage; pay the utility bill; buy a new big screen; get a case of MD2020; whatever. These inmates cannot (legally) spend a stimulus check because they do get free everything - at least, everything they are legally able to get.
@12:55 did your research also determine who voted in favor of it and which president signed it into law? Can you enlighten us all? People who live in a world where everything is either red or blue are dangerous for our society and fail to see the bigger picture.
I am in support of incarcerated men and women receiving stimulus checks.
And I also support Trump. GASP!!!! Y'all go make another drink now!
Until you actually KNOW an incarcerated person, then keep your ignorant opinions to yourself. Free room, free board, free meals. They are locked in concrete jungles. My dogs eat better.
The inmates have canteen accounts. They are NOT GIVEN soap, toothpaste, deodorant, stamps, envelopes, paper, pens or MANY other items. If they get sick, they are charged FROM their canteen accounts to see medical.
Believe me they are not enjoying their time behind bars within MDOC.
Family members on the outside fund canteen accounts so their loved one can buy items not given to them. Not everyone in prison is a monster. Sometimes good people make bad decisions. The majority locked up are doing their time, trying to stay alive & want to come home. PATRIOT HERE WITH A LOVED ONE INCARCERATED. I wish I was making ignorant comments & I wish I had NO clue what goes on in prison, but I do. Be thankful you do not. If having a loved one behind barss could happen to me, IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU!!!
It's only fair. These folks need money more than most. How else are they able to bribe guards so they can get cell-phones and dope in custody.
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